All results / Stories / Kenneth R. “Ken” Plum, State Delegate (D-36)
Column: Learning from My Own Education
My high school alma mater, Shenandoah High School, is no longer a high school. The building with an addition is now Shenandoah Elementary School. Children who would have attended the high school now attend the consolidated Page County High School.
Column: Traveling Abroad
While I am far from a world traveler, I find the trips I take to other countries to be relaxing, fun and educational. I agree with those who stress the value of traveling abroad to a complete education.
Commentary: Civics Education
While I enjoy studying history and reading the stories of the past, I equally enjoy studying the writing of history—historiography—which is “the writing of history based on the critical examination of sources, the selection of particulars from the authentic materials, and the synthesis of particulars into a narrative that will stand the test of critical methods.”
Overdue Ethics Reform
Commentary
For the first time in a history that goes back to Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson, a Virginia governor has been indicted on federal corruption charges. Although information on the activities of the federal grand jury had been leaking out for many months, the former governor and his wife who was indicted with him and their stable of taxpayer-paid-for attorneys were able to stave off the formal indictment until he left office. But the alleged wrong doing took place while he was in office during which time he and the first lady accepted a total of at least $165,000 in cash, loans and lavish gifts from the CEO of a diet supplement company.
Commentary: Let's Take a Break from School Reform
Earlier this month I attended “The Governor’s K-12 Education Reform Summit,” the second such event put on by the McDonnell administration in as many years.
Column: The Other Bills
By the time it adjourns in early March the General Assembly will have considered more than 2,500 bills and resolutions. About half will have passed.
Column: Garden Magic
The General Assembly has been in recess since early March when a special session was called by the Governor to pass a biennial budget that had failed to pass in the regular session.
Opinion: Commentary: Virginia Voters Can Contribute to the State’s Progressive Future
The year 2020 has been filled with major ups and downs, but nowhere has the good news been clearer than in the Virginia legislature.
Commentary: Efficiency Over Effectiveness
At the time of this writing, the General Assembly seems to be on course for an earlier than scheduled Feb. 28 adjournment date. For a part-time legislature that in recent years has found it difficult to stay within its 60-day session in the even-numbered years and 45-day session in the odd-numbered years, finishing work ahead of schedule would be unprecedented.
Uncertain Future for School Reform
For more than a quarter century the Virginia School Boards Association has been sponsoring a summer program, the "Governor’s Conference on Education." Traditionally the governor has made an appearance as luncheon speaker, but the main program has been a series of small group presentations by teachers, administrators and others of successful practices they have used in their classrooms, schools, or public school systems.
Commentary: Time to Act on the DREAM
Congress needs to act on the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, or the DREAM Act, as soon as it reconvenes after the elections. The act which was first introduced in 2001 would provide a path to citizenship for people brought to this country at a very young age.
Commentary: Reflections on the Elections
“Oh, no!” many may exclaim at the idea of hearing any more about the elections. But I believe it is instructive for the future to consider what happened and why. As residents of a battleground state, Virginians were inundated with telephone calls, television ads and slick mailers. Interestingly, the guys who spent the most money did not win. Virginia is a state that had just a few years ago elected Republicans to its top three statewide offices, majorities in the House and Senate, and eight of its 11 congressional representatives. Yet President Obama won the state handily. And former Governor Tim Kaine won a seat in the U.S. Senate even though 30 million in outside dollars were spent against him. How can this happen? Some of my thoughts on the question follow.
Commentary: Time to Catch Up on School Funding
According to the General Assembly’s own watch-dogs, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC), Virginia’s local school divisions shoulder the highest share of total K-12 spending in the Southeast region.
Commentary: Lifelong Learning, Endless Possibilities
In 1956 the then appointed Fairfax County School Board appropriated fifty dollars per month to be paid as a supplement to a school administrator to start an adult education program.
Column: Back to School
Although it has been many years since I was a teacher in the classroom, I still get a nervous stomach around Labor Day each year in anticipation of the beginning of a new school year. Teaching is the hardest work I have ever done in my life including being a legislator.