This is part two of a two-part roundup of several bills planned for Kentucky’s 2025 legislative session by legislators in Southcentral Kentucky.

‘Growth’ over ‘change’

Rep. Kevin Jackson, R.-Bowling Green, plans to sponsor a bill that’ll adjust Kentucky Department of Education assessment and accountability testing so test scores follow individuals one year after another.

This additionally raises the opportunity for new English learners to get a second year in school before their test scores are counted against them and the district, Jackson added.

KDE assessment and accountability testing compares scores for a subject among one grade of students at a given school with the same grade of students the following year — despite the original class progressing to the next grade after one year. Jackson’s bill would cause scores to follow a class from one grade to the next — indicating “growth” instead of “change.”

“Change is comparing last year’s third graders against this year’s third graders … apples to oranges,” he summed up. “If you go to growth, you’re comparing Little Johnny last year to Little Johnny this year.”

As official July 2024 KDE documentation states, “Whereas Growth measures the progress of individual students, Change measures the performance of the population of students in the school from year to year.”

Measuring growth additionally presents the opportunity for new English learners to get a second year in school before they’re accountable for a score — when currently, they have one year.

“We want to help our (English learner) students be able to have teaching and learning a year longer, before their scores are actually counted against them and the district,” Jackson said.

This additional year would be granted through a federal waiver, said Sarah Johnson, assistant superintendent at Warren County Public Schools.

“The federal government requires there to be accountability for education, and then our state has additional requirements — and so, when you look at federal designations in terms of if a school’s performing at a certain level, that’s federal,” Johnson explained.

So, Johnson said, when the accountability system is based on growth, KDE could request a waiver from the federal government to grant new English learners more than one year to score proficiently.

“It’s hard to see a student who’s learning the English language have to take hours worth of testing when they’re just learning English,” she said.

“If (a) student comes to the United States in fifth grade in April … then the next year, they would take the (Kentucky Summative Assessment) test in May and be accountable — meaning that they would get a score … and they would be responsible for knowing all the standards, sixth grade down.”

Third-party licensing renewals

Jackson also plans to sponsor a bill enabling non-state, third-party agencies to renew drivers licenses — aiming to reduce wait times and travel times for applicants.

These agencies would require certification and approval by the state as well as training and equipment, he added.

“We’ve got 120 counties and only 34 locations,” he noted. “We’ve got people driving an hour and a half or so to one of these locations across the state.”

He’s primarily seen insurance companies take on the role so far; AAA, for example, has taken on this role in 23 states, he said.

“It’s a way to get people in your door if you provide a service,” he said. “I think of somebody like Kentucky Farm Bureau. There’s one in every county in the state of Kentucky, just for an example. They have the equipment … And they would be able to provide those for their local constituents a lot quicker and easier than them having to drive an hour and a half somewhere else — and it’d gain them some more business.”

Some county court clerks may also want to take on the role, he added.

Silent panic alert systems

Another bill from Jackson aims to spread awareness about silent panic alert systems for schools — prompting the establishment of a list of vetted vendors and potentially leading to matching state funds for schools down the road.

This is based on Alyssa’s Law, legislation that requires schools to implement silent panic alert systems; it’s intended to reduce law enforcement response times during life-threatening emergencies. It’s named after Alyssa Alhadeff, a 14-year-old student killed in the 2018 Parkland, Florida, shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

These systems differ from one place to the next. Jackson pointed to one example, where school employees such as teachers are equipped with a wearable panic button that can be pushed in different ways to send different messages.

“That goes into a central location where it would be hooked then with, say, 911, the police department, (wherever) …” Jackson said.

Jackson said his bill would not mandate schools implement these systems; however, it would prompt KDE to create a list of vetted providers. This, said Jackson, would spread awareness about the technology and — when funding is more available — possibly lead to the state providing matching funds for schools that utilize those listed vendors.

“We have no money for that right now — it’s not our budget year — but our goal would be, eventually, to maybe have a pot of money,” Jackson said.