Western Kentucky University associate professor Gary Houchens will be a part of a new Charter Schools Advisory Council created by Gov. Matt Bevin to counsel the Kentucky Board of Education on charter school affairs.

Houchens, a professor in WKU’s Department of Educational Administration, Leadership and Research, is also a member of the state education board and described the new advisory council as an “asset to the board.”

The new advisory council is just one of several changes Bevin rolled out in a recent executive order. Bevin has named four nonvoting advisers to the state’s education board and changed the requirements for future members.

Going forward, members serving on the state’s education board will have to be either a parent of a public school student, someone with five years of education experience or someone with five years of experience in business leadership.

Among the nonvoting advisers is Tracey Cusick of Union, who is a parent of 10 children; Kathy Gornik, co-founder and president of THIEL Audio and chairman of Newton’s Attic, a nonprofit educational organization advocating science and engineering education; Wayne Lewis, an associate professor of educational leadership at the University of Kentucky; and Joe Papalia, a Louisville-based entrepreneur and executive with engineering, manufacturing and sales experience.

“They look like impressive individuals that have accomplished a lot, and I look forward to working with them in this capacity,” Houchens said of Bevin’s appointees.

The education commissioner and president of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education will also have voting power on the new Educational Professional Standards Board, which Bevin abolished and recreated. Bevin recently appointed the remaining 13 members, including Warren Central High School band director David Graham, who recently became the chairman of Warren County’s Republican Party.

Overall, Houchens sees the Charter Schools Advisory Council as an asset that will help do the heavy lifting in establishing the state’s charter school policy. The General Assembly passed House Bill 520 during its last session, allowing charter schools for the first time in the state.

“I see this group as working alongside staff in the (Kentucky) Department of Education around the development of policies that will govern charter schools, especially the application and appeals process,” Houchens said.

Under HB 520, the mayors of Louisville, Lexington and a local school board would authorize charter schools, with the KBE handling appeals.

Some have been critical of Bevin’s changes, including Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear. In a news release Wednesday, Beshear demanded Bevin rescind the executive order or face a lawsuit challenging Bevin’s “unlawful and unconstitutional move.”

Beshear’s warning came as the latest salvo in an ongoing feud over Bevin’s authority to reorganize the boards of the University of Louisville and the Kentucky Retirement Systems.

“The governor does not have ‘absolute authority’ over state boards,” Beshear said in the release. “He cannot ignore laws passed by the General Assembly that create independent boards, lay out their structure and set mandatory terms for their members. Put simply, he cannot rewrite laws he doesn’t like through executive orders.”

Beshear also contended that Bevin’s executive order “ignores and rewrites portions” of a sweeping education reform bill recently passed by the General Assembly.

Sen. Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green, was Senate Bill 1’s main sponsor and was skeptical of the argument that Bevin’s actions rewrite his bill. He sees Bevin as within his rights as a governor.

“We’ll just have to wait to see how it all turns out,” he said of Beshear’s threat of legal action.

Wilson said he appreciates Bevin’s attempt to bring more business experience into the Kentucky Board of Education’s membership because “for a long time education kind of existed in silos.”

As for the advisory board, Houchens said the Kentucky Board of Education has the ultimate authority in handling charter school matters.

“The real power of decision making lies ultimately with the board,” he said. “The executive order can’t change that.”