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Education Bus Tour Stops in Central Ky.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Fayette County Public Schools showed off its world languages and Spanish immersion programs today Thursdayfor officials from the U.S. Department of Education.

Deputy Secretary Tony Miller visited a class Picadome Elementary School being taught in Japanese as part of the federal “Education Drives America” bus tour.

“We know that our students and young adults are going to need to have world fluency skills; that’s language skills, that’s cultural fluency,” says Miller.

Miller says the U.S. Department of Education supports giving states flexibility to offer a broad range of course subjects beyond just reading and math, such as foreign languages. Kentucky was granted a waiver form the No Child Left Behind system, giving it freedom to develop a different accountability model to measure student success.

“I think all too often [educators and parents ask] ‘Is my child learning at the same rate of the next county?’ and ‘Is my state performing at the same level of the next door state?’ And really we should be saying ‘Is my child performing against a global standard with a global set of skills?’ That’s what I saw echoed here today, which is encouraging,” says Miller.

Federal officials on the bus tour also made a visit to Sayre School in Lexington to discuss collaborations between private and public schools, and a stop at Berea College to explore community partnerships.

Lexington native Brenna Angel anchored local morning newscasts for WUKY through May 13. She joined the station in March 2010 after previously working for WHAS-AM in Louisville.