The Kentucky General Assembly has given final approval to a bill to revamp the state's student testing program. House and Senate conferees ironed out their differences Friday and both chambers approved the legislation late in the day.Senate Majority Floor Leader Dan Kelly says many teachers in his distsrict have told him that it was time to change the Commonwelath Accountability Testing System, or CATS."I have seen teachers weep over the lost time they couldn’t spend teaching children the way they knew they should be teaching those children because of the interruptions they felt came from this test," Kelly said.The new student testing program would have less emphasis on writing and will take less time to administer. Full implementation is set for 2011 or 2012.The measure now goes to Governor Steve Beshear for his consideration.(Thanks to Stu Johnson, WEKU, Richmond/Kentucky Public Radio)
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.
