Alexander, Dr. David..	Selected Brief Biographical Sketches

Chair, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Virginia Tech University and school finance consultant to the Council for Better Education. 	
Alexander, Dr. Kern…	Dr. Kern Alexander is presently Excellence Professor in the College of Education, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.  Dr. Alexander was formerly University Distinguished Professor and the ninth President of Murray State University.  Dr. Alexander held the position of University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, from 1988 to 1994.  He served as President of Western Kentucky University, 1985-1988; and Professor and Director of the Institute for Educational Finance, University of Florida, Gainesville, 1968 to 1985.  While on leave from his professorship at the University of Florida, 1982 to 1985, he served as Education Policy Coordinator for Florida Governor Bob Graham.  Prior to his work in the State of Florida, he was an administrator in the U.S. Office of Education, Washington, D.C.  Alexander chaired Judge Corns’s Select Committee.	
Babbage, Bob………..	Bob Babbage is a founding partner of a Lexington lobbying and governmental relations firm.  He previously served as Kentucky State Auditor, Secretary of State and Democratic Party Chair.	
Bates, Clarence………	Wayne County Superintendent and active member of the Council for Better Education.	
Binion, Eugene………	Elliott County Superintendent and active member of the Council for Better Education.	
Blandford, Donald…..	Former Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives for eight years and named defendant on Council v. Wilkinson and was one of the state's most powerful political figures..  Blandford was subsequently involved in a legislative bribery and influence-peddling scandal known by its FBI code name, Operation Boptrot. Blandford ultimately went to prison for his involvement.	
Boysen, Dr. Thomas…	Dr. Thomas Boysen served as Kentucky’s first Education Commissioner.	
Brock, Dr. John……...	John Brock was Superintendent of the Rowan County Schools and a member of the Council for Better Education.  From 1988 until 1991 he served as Kentucky’s last functioning Superintendent of Public Instruction.  As Superintendent he refused to defend an appeal against Judge Corns’s Circuit Court ruling in Council v. Wilkinson.  He formed the Education coalition, a collection of professional advocacy groups.  After the passage of KERA the position of Superintendent of Public Instruction was abolished.  John Stephenson who was technically Kentucky’s last Superintendent, but had been stripped of all duties in favor of an appointed Commissioner of Education briefly and insignificantly followed Brock in office.	

Carroll, John Sawyer... 	

Editor of the Lexington Herald-Leader and advocate for strong public schools.  A former reporter for the Baltimore Sun, Carroll covered the war in Viet Nam, Nixon and McGovern before joining Creed Black at the Philadelphia Enquirer.  When Black became publisher in Lexington he hired Carroll to become editor.	
Cody, Dr. Wilmer……	Kentucky’s second Education Commissioner.	
Collins, Governor…… Martha Layne	Martha Layne Collins served as Kentucky’s first woman Governor from 1983-1987.  Her attraction of Toyota to Kentucky is perhaps her greatest accomplishment.  While she was criticized for the $300 million in incentives needed to close the deal, the move ultimately brought a record number of new jobs to Kentucky as dozens of Toyota suppliers set up plants across the state.  In 1984 she asked for $324 million for schools, but the House refused to cooperate and the proposal was withdrawn.  In 1979, she was one of six candidates for Lieutenant Governor, and received the nomination on only twenty-three percent of the vote.  She previously served as secretary of the state Democratic party and served on the Democratic National Committee after Wendell Ford’s election as Governor.  She defeated current Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Joseph Lambert for Clerk of the Court of Appeals in 1975.	
Collins, Tony……….. 	Wolfe County Superintendent and active member of the Council for Better Education.	
Combs, Judge Bert…..	Bert Combs was Governor of Kentucky from December 1959 to December 1963.  The only other elective state office he held was a 1950 – 1955 term as judge on the Court of Appeals, the highest court in Kentucky at the time.  Despite never serving in public office again, his political impact on the Commonwealth extended far beyond the four years he spent as Governor.  His strong support for public education, a road building effort that connected eastern and western Kentucky, the promotion of parks and increased tourism yielded future benefits.  Combs boldly desegregated all public accommodations in the state by executive order in 1963 and appointed Kentucky’s first Human Rights Commission.  Combs was appointed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1967.  Long after he left office, Combs was still sought out for advice by Frankfort officials, and was considered by some as the Democrats de-facto leader.  He died in a flash flood near Stanton December 4, 1991.	
Corns, Judge Ray……	Franklin county Circuit Court Judge who ruled Kentucky’s system of schools unconstitutional 	
Dawahare, Debra……	As second chair to Bert Combs Dawahare is credited with carrying out much of the legal work 	
Eversole, Alex………	Jenkins Independent Superintendent and active member of the Council for Better Education.	

Guess, Arnold………	
Former school finance expert with the Kentucky Department of Education who was the catalyst in forming the Council for Better Education and one of its most active members.	
Hammers, Rayden…...	Superintendent and active member of the Council for Better Education.	
Hatfield, Frank………	Bullitt County Superintendent and first President of the Council for Better Education.	
Lavit, Theodore……..	Lebanon attorney who assisted with articles of incorporation and other legal work for the Council for Better Education.  Lavit wanted the court to keep jurisdiction in the Rose case.  Lavit had previously filed a school funding case in federal court and presently has a third school funding case pending. 	
Lewis, Dr. Tom……. 	Legal counsel with Wyatt Tarrant and Combs who assisted with some of the initial legal work	
Maloney, Mike……. 	Senator Michael Maloney was an attorney who had achieved much acclaim as a powerful and technically competent legislator with a strong command of the budgetary process and a bare-knuckle manner.  He was reputed to be a tough Democratic campaigner.  Former Fayette County Democratic Party chair. 	
McDonald, Alice……	Former Superintendent of Public Instruction who bitterly opposed the Council’s suit and was later criticized for unlawful personnel practices.	
Melton, James………	Former local Superintendent and state level school administrator with expertise in school finance issues.  Melton served the Council for Better Education as an unpaid consultant, and active member.  He also served on Judge Corns’s Select Committee.  Melton also served as Executive Director of the Kentucky School Boards Association.	
Moreland, Jack………	Former Superintendent of the Dayton Independent Schools and present Superintendent of the Covington Independent Schools.  Moreland served as Council for Better Education Secretary and later served three times as President.	
Prather, Joe…………..	Former President Pro Tem of the Kentucky Senate.	
Prichard, Edward F…. 
	Ed Prichard, Frankfort/Lexington attorney, served as law clerk to 
U. S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter in 1939.  He worked for the Department of Justice from 1940-1942 and served on the White House staff under President Franklin D. Roosevelt 1942-1945. Prichard was a long time political advisor to Democratic Governors Earle Clements, Lawrence Weatherby and Bert Combs.  Thought of by some as a public intellectual who served on the Kentucky Council on Higher Education.  Prichard died December 23, 1984.	
Rose, John “Eck”……	Former President Pro Tem of the Kentucky Senate and named appellant in Rose v. Council.	
Salmon, Dr. Richard…	Dr. Salmon is presently a Professor of Education at Virginia Tech.  He received his Ed.D. in educational administration from the University of Florida in 1969 with his dissertation entitled, "The Equalization of the Financial Support in Nine Selected States." He joined Virginia Tech in 1972 after having taught at Oklahoma State University and the University of Florida. A co-author of three textbooks, Salmon has also written numerous book chapters, monographs, research reports, and articles, and has consulted for agencies and organizations nationwide, including the Council for Better Education.	
Sexton, Dr. Robert…..	Bob Sexton has been the Executive Director of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence since its inception in 1983.  A Louisville native, he has been Deputy Director of the Kentucky Council on Higher Education, an administrator at the University of Kentucky, a professor of history and a high school teacher.  A graduate of Yale, Sexton earned his Ph.D. in history at the University of Washington.  He has been widely recognized for his efforts to improve public education at the state and national levels.  The Prichard committee is an independent , state-wide, non-partisan advocacy group dedicated to the improvement of education for all Kentuckians.	
Scent, William………	Former Director of the Department of Revenue 1959-1963 and U. S. Attorney for the western district of Kentucky.  Scent, a Paducah attorney, served as defense counsel for the General Assembly in Rose v. Council.	
Stephens, Chief …….. Justice Robert F.	Robert F. Stephens served as Secretary of the Justice Cabinet from May 1999 until his death in 2002.  He was first appointed to the Kentucky Supreme court in December 1979, was reelected and ultimately served an unprecedented four consecutive terms as Chief Justice from 1982-1998.  His authorship of the decision in Rose v. Council propelled Kentucky to the forefront of national education reform.  Stephens previously served as Fayette County Judge Executive, 1970-1975, and lead the effort to create the urban county government.  He was Kentucky Attorney General from 1975 to1979.	
Towler, Steve………. 	Hardin County Superintendent and Vice President of the Council for Better Education.	
Wilkinson, Wallace…	Wallace Wilkinson served as finance chair in Harvey Sloane’s failed gubernatorial campaign in 1983.  In 1984, also he managed John Y. Brown’s aborted campaign for U. S. Senate in 1984.  A successful businessman, Wilkinson put sums of his own money into his race for Governor, was elected, and served from 1987-1991.  He ran for Governor on a “no new taxes” pledge which he abandoned after the Supreme Court decision in Rose v. Council.  He advocated a state-wide lottery, which he got, and a succession amendment (that would have made him eligible for reelection) which failed.	
Wilhoit, Gene………..	Gene Wilhoit was named Kentucky’s third Commissioner of Education in September 2000.  Formerly a program director with the Indiana Department of Education, the Executive Director of the National Association of State Boards of Education and Special Assistant in the U. S. Office of Education. He was chief state school officer in Arkansas before coming to Kentucky.