Kentucky Education Commission-er Terry Holliday’s voice was reduced to nearly a whisper Wednesday, but what he had to say about the federal budget was clear.

If the U.S. House’s federal budget is approved, “you guys are going to get creamed,” Holliday told the board of directors of the Green River Regional Educational Cooperative at its March-April meeting at the GRREC offices in the Kentucky Transpark. “The (U.S.) Senate bill will treat you better.”

Holliday, who has a medical issue with his vocal chords that’s not life-threatening, said he’s been in discussions with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan about how sequestration will affect Kentucky public school funding. The view right now is that 5 percent of Kentucky’s federal funding for education will disappear each year for the next decade. 

“That depends on your Title 1 formula,” he said while the grim-faced superintendents of 37 school districts in southcentral Kentucky surrounded him in the meeting room.

Holliday said he has met with Bowling Green’s U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican, and will meet with U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell next week. He said when school officials describe the impact of the federal cuts, “the key is to have real people (as examples),” noting that specifics such as “I cut a special education teacher” has more impact than simply citing a number. 

He said Jefferson County Public Schools will probably take the biggest federal funding cut in the state and that cut could encompass 25 percent of the federal education funds cut in Kentucky.

Holliday also congratulated GRREC on its reception of the $41 million federal Race to the Top grant to explore strategies for involvement with early-age learning. “Great job, great collaboration,” he said.

Holliday also noted that the state is putting together a planning grant program for school districts impacted by local decisions to increase the dropout age from 16 to 18. Planning grants could bring $10,000 to a regional cooperative, such as GRREC. In concert with the possibility of an increased dropout age, the state of Kentucky, through recent legislation, will permit early graduating students to get the fourth year of state money even if they graduate in three years.

“Don’t think of early graduation as a negative, but rather think of it as a positive,” Holliday said.

In another matter, John White, deputy assistant secretary of rural outreach with the U.S. Department of Education, said the federal government is looking at GRREC to learn how rural school district educational cooperatives are able to compete for federal grants, such as Race to the Top grant.

“We want to help tell the story of Kentucky,” he said. White is working with teachers from across America who are looking at rural student educational initiatives.

“We want to hear from you,” he told the superintendents. “You’ve gone through the process and succeeded.”

“We appreciate the growing opportunities for rural school districts,” said George Wilson, GRREC executive director.