Guest Columns

For many students, the end of the school year does not mean an end to time spent with a teacher.

In fact, hundreds work as hard during summer vacation as they do during the rest of the year.  Two of the most popular programs Kentucky offers are Governor’s Scholars and the Governor’s School for the Arts, both of which give select high school students a chance to spend several weeks on a college campus with others as driven as they are.

One of the Commonwealth’s most famous authors, Jesse Stuart, once wrote that “if these United States can be called a body, Kentucky can be called its heart.”

He was referring to more than just our location, of course, but his words have proven prophetic in a geographic sense as well.  It turns out that our literal place in the world is a great place to be when it comes to helping the world get what it needs.

One of the General Assembly’s top priorities this year – fixing a short-term deficit in Medicaid while putting the program on a path toward long-term savings – took a major, even historic, step forward last Thursday.

That morning, Governor Beshear announced three companies had been hired to manage the care of most of those enrolled in Medicaid. These companies are joining Passport, a state-created entity that has already been doing the same type of work in Jefferson and 15 surrounding counties for more than a decade.

One of the more persistent challenges state leaders face from year to year is determining just how well Kentucky measures up against its sister states. We need to know where we stand before we decide in which direction we should move.