Draud's political affiliation had NOTHING to do with this? Bull. I suppose tomorrow someone will try to make us all believe that the Pope is Jewish, too. Oh, well, chalk it up as just another example of Fletcher's lackeys getting in their final swipes at the Commonwealth for booting Ernest out of office.

This stinks, folks!

well let's see how long he lasts - Draud is not going to do the heavy lifting that needs to be done - I give him a year - the guy is 69? and he is going to take us to 2014 - whatever.......

As a testimony to the complete corruption and cronyism of Fletcher, and the reason Kentucky rode him out of town on a rail, I think Draud is a perfect monument to Fletcher's legacy: The rest is silence.

As soon as I saw all the not so good postings around the blogosphere about this character I knew the Education Department was in trouble.

We can only hope Beshear gets some new blood on this panel so he can get someone in there who will actually do the job which needs to be done. I have a feeling Beshear was trying to avoid this in the first place.

Draud is too hellbent on getting religion in our public school system for my taste. We need to continue a separation of church and state and that includes our public schools. If he wants those things there are still schools available out there which are supported by the churches. It has no place in public schools no matter how much the religious right tries to force it on everybody.

As partisan as I can be at times, I am reserving my comments until later regarding Draud himself. What has been frustrating and questionable is the entire selection process the first time, and now what appears to be a preselection of Rep. Draud. We have felt for the last month, or since Draud's name was mentioned, that Draud would be the eventual selection. The selection process was flawed TWICE. On a less than serious note: My only fear is that tours to the Creation Museum will replace the annual tours to the Capitol in the primary school curriculum.

Wilder: Please do not lump all churches together, especially on the issue of the separation of church and state. The Kentucky Council of Churches representing nearly 3000 congregations across the state has been steadfast in support of a sturdy wall between the two. This does not mean that all references to religion and its influences on culture, history, and persons should be omitted from the curriculum, but it does mean that schools should not be the place for proselytizing, for advocacy of a particular religious point of view (especially in the arena of science), or for non- voluntary prayer.

Just as the Ten Commandments belong engraved on people's hearts and minds, and not posted in public buildings for political purposes, so does the aspect of religious teaching belong in private religious schools and not in taxpayer funded education. As a taxpayer, I do not want children getting any form of religious education in a school system supported by my tax dollars. If Draud begins a move in the direction of religious teachings in public schools, then there will be a problem with a lot of Kentuckians and the new Education commissioner, as well as with the educators who already struggle daily to teach the required curriculum. I am reserving my judgement of Draud until I hear his vision. I will give him that fair chance.

To: Flamecat,

When you say, "I do not want children getting any form of religious education in a school system supported by my tax dollars." Are you meaning you don't want our children to learn the history of religious wars? Are you meaning you don't want our children to learn that the US Constitution provides the freedom to practice the religion of one's choice? Are you meaning you don't want our children to learn that colonists (american) broke away from the King of England to come to America so they could practice the religion of their choice? Are you meaning you don't want our kids to learn about the struggles of early colonists who tried so very hard to find religous freedom in the middle colonies?

For instance, don't you want our children to learn The mid-Atlantic region, unlike either New England or the South, drew many of its initial settlers from European states that had been deeply disrupted by the Protestant Reformation and the religious wars that followed in its wake. Small congregations of Dutch Mennonites, French Huguenots, German Baptists, and Portuguese Jews joined larger communions of Dutch Reformed, Lutherans, Quakers, and Anglicans to create a uniquely diverse religious society. African Americans and the indigenous Indians, with religious traditions of their own, added further variety to the Middle Colony mosaic.

Flamecat, Perhaps YOU think our children should be told, "colonists settled in America to practice COOKING whatever food they want?"