Dear......

Senate Republican leader David Williams' bad judgment has reared its ugly head again. Last week I wrote to you about support for Senate Bill 14, which would change the constitution to abolish Office of Treasurer - the state's chief, elected financial watchdog. That was bad policy for Kentucky.

This week, Senator Williams is publicly touting the merits of his own Senate Bill 1, which would do away with the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS) in our public schools and replace it with multiple choice tests developed for national use.

CATS requires students to exhibit critical thinking by applying those skills to problem solving essay questions. Williams' bill advocates generic national testing that relies on students' skills to answer multiple choice questions by filling in a bubble on an electronic score card.

Our Democratic Governor Steve Beshear has vowed to protect the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) by vetoing SB1 if necessary. Governor Beshear puts Kentucky's children and their education at the very top of his administration's priority list and while he knows we must never stop working to improve the Commonwealth's educational system - SB1 is NOT an improvement.

WHAS reporter Mark Hebert yesterday posted Williams' reaction to Governor Beshear's opposition to SB1: "Williams called Beshear's comments 'amateurish' and 'pathetic...'"

I find it ironic that a grown man like Senator Williams would publicly revert to tantrum-throwing while simultaneously calling someone else's actions "pathetic?" This is just more desperate behavior from Williams in his last-ditch effort to resuscitate his doomed bill.

Join me in supporting Democratic Governor Steve Beshear and letting David Williams know we will not stand for his repeated support of poor policy for Kentucky's families.

Sincerely,

Jennifer A. Moore
Chair, Kentucky Democratic Party