By Linda Blackford | Editor
Good morning! I hope you had a wonderful July 4th weekend; certainly the weather was better here than in Washington D.C. We’re back at work with a fascinating story on a bill from the last session that pretty much everyone agreed was a good idea: social media controls for our kids. Republican Rep. Matt Lockett led the charge and brought forward a bill. It passed the House unanimously. And then it died. Reporter Sarah Ladd examines what happened.
We’ve also got a story from contributor Tom Loftus on two new appointees to the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees by Gov. Andy Beshear, who is at odds with that school’s leadership.
And I looked at education news from all over, and shook my head. Literally and figuratively, that is, as you’ll see from my column.
Thanks for reading and have a great week!
The Kentucky State Capitol on April 14, 2026. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Sarah Ladd)
By Sarah Ladd
Rep. Matt Lockett, R-Nicholasville, filed House Bill 227 in January and it amassed 27 cosponsors, both Republican and Democrat.
The bill took a sweeping aim at “addictive” online features like doomscrolling and autoplay by blocking these features for children. It would have also required social media platforms to estimate the age of users and restrict usage for those under the age of 15 to child settings unless a parent consented otherwise.
Gov. Andy Beshear on May 12, 2026. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Sarah Ladd)
By Tom Loftus
Gov. Andy Beshear has filled two vacancies on the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees with longtime supporters as he works to exercise more control over the direction of the state’s flagship university.
Students arrive at Carter Traditional Elementary School in Louisville in January 2022. (Getty Images)
COMMENTARY
By Linda Blackford
As usual, political shenanigans around education are a bipartisan game, fun for everyone except those most affected, our kids, be they little tykes or college students. The past couple of weeks in Kentucky are nothing new.
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