Education

An education co-op representing 23 central Kentucky school districts has won $40 million in race to the Top grant funding.

The Kentucky Department of Education won $17 million in funding last year, but this is the first time the U.S. Department of Education has made Race to the Top grants available to school districts.

Kentucky Protection and Advocacy has asked the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence to include special education information for participants in next year’s parent leadership institutes.

KPA is a federally mandated state agency that protects persons with disabilities. KPA attorney Leslie Jones says the agency spends a lot of time working with students.

Now, KPA wants to add an element to Prichard’s program that has been newly named the Governor’s Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership.

The Indiana Department of Education will send nearly $190 million to school districts across the state this week to help fund full-day kindergarten programs, which have seen a nearly 20 percent increase in enrollment this school year.

A coalition supporting charter school legislation rallied before the Jefferson County Board of Education meeting Monday night and released a second report focusing on achievement gaps in the district.

The group is calling itself the Community/Parental Choice Coalition and includes members of the Black Alliance of Educational Opportunities (BAEO). Also rallying with the group was the conservative-leaning policy group Bluegrass Institute, which released a report being used to support charter school legislation.