Interview with Wade Mountz, August 12, 2014

Partial Transcript: Okay, it's August 12th, 2014. I am with Wade Mountz at his home in Louisville Kentucky. I'm Arwen Donahue and this an interview for the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence Oral History Project.

Segment Synopsis: Wade Mountz talks about his experience in the Navy after volunteering for military service during World War II. He talks about his father's farming and his formative years during the Great Depression.

Keywords: Farming; Flight training; Great Depression; Gunnery training; Quakers; V J Day

Subjects: Depressions--1929; World War II; World War, 1939-1945

Partial Transcript: You did, we--you did do another oral history interview so I won't ask you to repeat, uh, everything that you discussed in that interview.

Segment Synopsis: Mountz talks about his first introduction to Bob Sexton through his work on the Prichard Committee. He says he had a good working relationship with Sexton even though he was liberal and Mountz is conservative. He discusses his career in hospital administration.

Keywords: Norton Hospital

Subjects: Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence; Sexton, Robert F.

Partial Transcript: So, what, what did you bring to hospital administration that, that was different? Uh, you personally.

Segment Synopsis: Mountz talks about his views on hospital administration and employment benefits. He says his philosophy on work is that it should be fun.

Keywords: Actuary; Employment benefits; Pensions

Subjects: Hospital administrators.

Partial Transcript: When and how did you become aware of the--there were educational problems in the--in s--Kentucky's school system?

Segment Synopsis: Mountz talks about his own family's experiences with advanced classes in public education which sparked his interest in education issues.

Keywords: Education reform; Hospital administration; Prichard Committee

Subjects: Hospital administrators.

Partial Transcript: You described being on the Committee on Higher Education in Kentucky's Future, uh, and then how that committee came to realize that the real problem was not higher education it was primary and secondary education.

Segment Synopsis: Mountz talks about his frustration with working on the state school board. He talks about improvements he has observed in school board leadership. He talks about friction between Jefferson County public education leadership and the Prichard Committee.

Keywords: Kentucky Education Association (KEA); Primary education; School boards; Secondary education

Subjects: Prichard Committee on Higher Education in Kentucky's Future

Partial Transcript: I, I'm interested in hearing more about your time with the, with the state board of education, uh, but maybe since it happened first maybe we could talk about your time with the--as chair of the board of the Prichard Committee--

Segment Synopsis: Mountz talks about the initial indifferent reception by the state government and the public to the publication of "Path to a Larger Life." He describes the Prichard Committee as a "counter force" to "vested interests" in the state.

Keywords: Helen Mountjoy; Martha Layne Collins; Path to a Larger Life; Wallace Wilkinson

Subjects: Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence; Prichard Committee on Higher Education in Kentucky's Future

Partial Transcript: I wanted to al--ask also about the Kentucky Career Ladder Commission that you--

Segment Synopsis: Mountz talks about the unsuccessful effort to develop the "Career Ladder" as a means to promote teacher training and advancement.

Keywords: Brereton Jones; Carnegie Foundation; Kentucky Education Association (KEA); Martha Layne Collins; Tenure

Subjects: Education--Study and teaching; Educators

Partial Transcript: It, it seems that, that one of the perspectives that you brought to, to the Prichard Committee and to, to your work on education reform was as a businessman who understood what it took to run a business efficiently...

Segment Synopsis: Mountz talks about his management internship for hospital administration and how he applied those lessons to education reform. He talks about his professional experiences as an administrator for Norton Hospital.

Keywords: Education funding; Human resources; Norton Hospital

Subjects: Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence

Partial Transcript: Did you, did you have a chance to see any uh, concrete positive effects in the hospital as a result of the educational reforms that, that happened...

Segment Synopsis: Mountz talks about a speech he delivered to the Prichard Committee including ten points for promoting education reform that was published in the Whitesburg Mountain Eagle newspaper.

Keywords: Hospital schools; Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA); Mountain Eagle; Tom Gish

Subjects: Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence

Partial Transcript: And I wondered how, how you strategized, uh, because Bob said that he learned a great deal from Ed Prichard on how to deal with the press because Ed Prichard was such a, a master at dealing with the press.

Segment Synopsis: Mountz describes Prichard's attitude in dealing with the media as "folksy" and that he was highly skilled in public relations. He talks about working closely with Bob Sexton in managing media relations for the committee. He talks about financially lean times for the committee during the late 1980s.

Keywords: Bob Sexton; Carnegie Foundation; Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA); Stu Silberman

Subjects: Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence

Partial Transcript: I was wondering if you played a role in that because it seemed that you uh--it--with your business acumen that you would have been able to reach out to, to pe--to the business round table...

Segment Synopsis: Mountz talks about some of the important business leaders involved in education reform. He discusses his efforts to organize Voluntary Hospitals of America.

Keywords: Ashland Oil; David Jones; Humana, Inc.; John Hall; Kent C. "Oz" Nelson; Norton Hospital; United Parcel Service (UPS); Voluntary Hospitals of America (VHA)

Subjects: Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence

Partial Transcript: H, how did you get appointed to the, to the state board of education and how did that work kind of cross filter with your Prichard Committee work?

Segment Synopsis: Mountz talks about serving with the Prichard Committee and the state board of education at the same time. He talks about the Prichard Committee's open meetings designed to cultivate good relations with the press.

Keywords: Bob Sexton; Fundraising; News media

Subjects: Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence

Partial Transcript: --this was in 1990 when, uh--before the gubernatorial race and uh, and when Lar, Larry Forgy was the Republican nominee and, and he had been very pro reform in the past and then all of the sudden kind of shifted his position and came out against KERA.

Segment Synopsis: Mountz talks about his disagreement with a controversial article on education published by Larry Forgy while running for governor. He implies that the article cooled his friendship with Forgy. He talks about his views on raising taxes for education.

Keywords: American Hospital Association (AHA); Larry Forgy; Ronald Reagan; Taxes; Wyatt, Tarrant and Combs

Subjects: Politics and government; Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence

Partial Transcript: Uh, it not just really uh, directly related, but I'm curious given your, your advocacy for tax support for education reform, uh, what you think of the direction that the Republican Party has taken with, with, uh, the TEA party and so forth?

Segment Synopsis: Mountz says the extremism of the TEA Party is likely to be destructive due to its refusal to compromise. He characterizes unwillingness to compromise as "stupidity."

Keywords: Compromise

Subjects: Politics and government; Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence

Partial Transcript: What, what are your--reflecting back on it, what are your proudest accomplishments with, with your Prichard Committee work?

Segment Synopsis: Mountz says the passage of KERA was the most significant accomplishment of the Prichard Committee. He says the work of the committee and KERA determined the outcome of the Rose v. Council for Better Education case. He talks about the work and leadership of Bob Sexton for the committee after the death of Ed Prichard.

Keywords: Bob Sexton; Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA); Rose v. Council for Better Education

Subjects: Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence

Partial Transcript: Uh, I wondered, I've asked a few other people this too: do you have any insight into what sparked Bob's deep passion for education issues?

Segment Synopsis: Mountz talks about Bob Sexton's family background. He talks about the value of Sexton's leadership and work at the committee. He says the committee has functioned efficiently and effectively in the past. He speaks of his pride for serving with the committee, which he describes as a "positive experience."

Keywords: Bob Sexton; Cindy Heine; Pam Shepherd

Subjects: Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence; Sexton, Robert F.