| The Educational Tragedy of Senator Ken Winters: |
Ivan C. Potter
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 Senate District 1
History will judge Governor Fletcher as a fool wrapped in a political straitjacket for his mishandling of Kentucky’s educational strategic policy. A classic example of how a sitting governor can be so wrong in moving a state into the future, one only has to look at the Governor’s relationship with First District Republican State Senator Ken Winters.
Winters is the chairman of the Kentucky Senate Committee on Education and is one of the most gifted educational leaders to be produced by Kentucky politics within the past 20 years. His resume includes, past president of Campbellsville University. Prior to that post, he was Dean of College of Industry and Technology at Murray State University.
While at Campbellsville, Winters learned to react and work within real world problems and opportunities. In 1996, Fruit of the Loom closed down factories in Kentucky. Several thousand jobs were lost in south central Kentucky. As the president of Campbellsville University, Winters saw firsthand how economic downturns impacted the ability of local communities to survive.
President Winters moved fast. He organized local resources to respond the crisis of Fruit of the Loom’s exit from the local counties. In the early days before the displaced worker state programs, Campbellsville College started their own program for out-of-work factories employees. Winters was the driving force in getting Amazon.com to locate a major distribution warehouse in Campbellsville. His efforts helped to land 1,000 new jobs.
Winters has been known as a fierce fighter for Kentucky’s educational future. Then the Republican brain trust in Frankfort got involved. Governor Fletcher and his team saw a political opportunity in “spinning” Winters. They knew Winters wanted to be named president of the Council on Postsecondary Higher Education. Winters saw the grand strategy of unifying the power of all of Kentucky’s higher education institutions into a common vision to take Kentucky into the 21st Century job marketplace.
Fletcher talked Winters into being the “good soldier” and taking one for the Republican Team. Fletcher and his advisors worked behind the scenes to block Winters from getting any supporters in his effort to be named to the higher education post. Instead, the Governor’s Office pulled Winters into their Machiavellian plan to retain control of the Senate District 1. This far western district includes Carlisle, Hickman, Fulton, Graves, Calloway, Trigg, and Lyon Counties.
The Republicans wanted, at all costs, to make sure that Democrat Carroll Hubbard of Mayfield (Graves County) would not become the senator from the First District. Hubbard would not have near the chance of victory against incumbent Winters. That was their stated goal. However, Winters wanted to move on and put his talent to work at the policy-making levels of higher education.
Instead of Winters, Fletcher named ex-state budget director, Brad Cowgill as interim President of the Council on Postsecondary Higher Education. Winters was passed over.
Winters quietly applied for a second post in Kentucky education. With his background as Chair of the Senate Education Committee, Winters felt suited to take over as Education Commissioner. He let the Governor and his staff know he was applying for the post.
On Monday October 29, 2007, Fletcher’s Office announced that five semifinalist had been selected for the job of State Education Commissioner with oversight of some 600,000 Kentucky students. Winters was not one of the semifinalists. He had been passed over a second time.
Fletcher’s forces again made sure that Ken Winters would not have a chance to get out of the Senate. Sources close to the situation in Frankfort verified that a “whisper campaign” from the Governor’s Office worked against Winters becoming the Commissioner.
Twice now, Governor Fletcher has held Ken Winters in place and positioned for the expected fierce battle with Carroll Hubbard.
The tragedy is that once again in Kentucky politics, little minds in high places play out insane games of control without allowing the state to move forward.
Next Tuesday night, Fletcher will go down in flames. With him will go the Republican opportunity to hold Senate District 1. For Winters to beat Hubbard, he will need to raise at least $250,000 to $ 300,000.
Where will the Republican Party be? For that matter, where will citizen Ernie Fletcher be? With their checkbooks out?
I doubt it.
Maybe it is time for Ken Winters to stop being a pawn on the Republican chess board.
Maybe it is time for Ken Winters to position himself for a bright future fighting for Kentucky educational opportunities by becoming a “John Sherman Cooper” Republican.
Maybe it is time for Ken Winters to retire with honor and not allow himself to be used as so much cannon fodder by the Republican High Command.
Whatever his choice, we wish Ken Winters the best. |
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