State board members visit schools

It's good for the board to get out into the field. It helps provide a reality check. But the board should be careful not to tailor their own perceptions of reality by their selection of visitation sites.

But lord knows... they could use some good news.

This from the Courier-Journal:

Students in Brenda Gunnell's second-period language arts class at Farnsley Middle School were so focused on their writing assignment yesterday that they didn't notice a set of eyes watching them.

And that's just the way Kaye Baird wanted it.

"I just wanted to blend in and be the least disruptive as possible," said Baird, a member of the Kentucky Board of Education.

State board members were in Louisville for their monthly meeting, held this time at the Jefferson County Public Schools' Van Hoose Education Center on Newburg Road. While in town, they asked to visit some high-achieving public schools.

"We wanted to see some schools with a high density of at-risk students that have demonstrated steady progress over the years," said Joe Brothers, chairman of the board...

..."It was a great visit," said Brothers, who is from Elizabethtown. "As a board, we need to stay in contact with students and educators. We need to make sure the job is getting done and also provide support to those in the trenches."...