[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6991-6992]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO LEWIS D. CARTER JR.

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to honor an accomplished 
educator from my home State, the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Lewis D. 
Carter Jr. will retire from his position of superintendent of the 
Monroe Country Schools on July 1--nearly 40 years after beginning his 
career in education.
  An intense passion for education runs throughout the Carter family. 
Lewis's grandfather was the first in the family to hold the post of 
superintendent of the Monroe County Schools in the early 1900s. His 
father also held the position for 28 years until his retirement in 
1980, and his great-aunt and his great-uncle held the same position 
near the time of his grandfather. For Carter, teaching the next 
generation of children might as well be ingrained in his DNA.
  Carter got his start in 1975 teaching health and PE. Since then, he 
has held positions across the education field. In 1991, he was made 
principal of Tompkinsville Elementary School. In 1994, he began 10 
years as the director of adult education, in addition to coordinating 
the School to Work program. More recently he served as the deputy 
executive director of the Kentucky Education Cabinet--an assignment 
that immediately preceded his current position.
  Carter will have plenty to keep him busy in retirement. In addition 
to his large family he and his wife of 42 years, Sheila, have two 
children and six grandchildren--Lewis will let you know that he has a 
``hunting, fishing and golfing list'' that requires his attention.
  While Lewis can look forward to some much deserved fun in his 
retirement, he will be sorely missed in the Monroe County School 
System. Lewis's big heart and passion for education serve as an example 
for us all. I ask that my U.S. Senate colleagues join me in honoring 
this exemplary citizen.
  Mr. President, The Daily Times recently published an article 
chronicling Lewis D. Carter Jr.'s career. I ask unanimous consent that 
the full article be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record as follows:

                 [From the Daily Times, April 11, 2014]

                           Carter Will Retire

                           (By Gina Kinslow)

       After five years as superintendent of Monroe County 
     schools, Lewis Carter is stepping down.
       Carter announced his retirement Thursday night during the 
     Monroe County Board of Education meeting. It becomes 
     effective July 1.
       After making his announcement, staff members and others 
     present for the meeting, applauded and gave him a standing 
     ovation.
       Carter cited his age as one reason for retiring. He is 62. 
     ``I think it's time [to retire],'' he said. ``I feel like 
     it's time.''
       Another reason for retiring is the success the school 
     system has achieved in the last five years.
       ``I want to make sure when I retire that everything is 
     good,'' he said.
       Carter read a lengthy list of accomplishments for the 
     school district before announcing his retirement.

[[Page 6992]]

       ``When I first came here, we set goals as the whole 
     administrative staff,'' he said. ``We met every single goal 
     without exception. When our team met the last goal, I said to 
     myself, `That's good.' That was in December.''
       That last goal was seeing Monroe County High School become 
     a high-achieving school and being listed in the 94.6 
     percentile.
       ``When I came here, we were like in the 28 percentile,'' he 
     said.
       Carter pointed out successes achieved by other schools in 
     the district, including Monroe County Middle School becoming 
     a national school to watch and being named one of the top-10 
     achieving middle schools in the state.
       He noted Tompkinsville Elementary has been named a Blue 
     Ribbon School nominee and Gamaliel Elementary won the 
     Winners' Circle Choice Award in the Kentucky Tell Survey. GES 
     was also recognized by the Kentucky Department of Education 
     as an honor school two years in a row.
       Joe Harrison Carter Elementary was named the overall winner 
     of the Governor's Cup academic competition and has been 
     recognized as K-PREP [Kentucky Performance Rating for 
     Educational Progress] progressing school.
       Toby Chapman, school board chairman, learned of Carter's 
     retirement plans on Tuesday and said the news came as a 
     shock.
       ``He had another year on his contract. I thought he was 
     going to stay, but evidently he's ready to go,'' Chapman 
     said.
       Carter had a two-year contract with the school board to 
     serve as superintendent.
       Chapman praised Carter for the good job he has done as 
     superintendent.
       ``I won't say we've always seen eye-to-eye on everything, 
     but we've always worked out what was best for the kids,'' 
     Chapman said.
       Carter succeeded Rachel Ford and Liz Willett, who served as 
     interim superintendents, following the resignation of George 
     Wilson as superintendent.
       Prior to becoming superintendent of Monroe County schools, 
     Carter served as deputy executive director of the Kentucky 
     Workforce and Education Cabinet. He also served in many roles 
     for the Monroe County school system during his career, 
     including as assistant principal and then principal of 
     Tompkinsville Elementary.
       He began his career in education in 1975 teaching health 
     and physical education, as well as coaching school athletic 
     teams.
       As for his retirement plans, Carter said, ``I have a 
     hunting, fishing and golfing list. I plan to have fun.''
       Dr. Michael Carter, school board member, said he will miss 
     Carter.
       ``Lewis has always been a great spokesman for our school 
     and I know he truly cares about our schools and our 
     children,'' he said. ``I don't think we will find anybody who 
     cares more than Mr. Carter does.''
       Eddie Proffitt, also a school board member, said Carter has 
     done a lot for the school system.
       ``He was a good superintendent. He will be hard to 
     replace,'' Proffitt said.
       The search for a replacement will begin as soon as 
     possible.
       ``We're going to meet with Lewis tomorrow. We are going to 
     call a lawyer and get the ball rolling, so probably in the 
     next couple of weeks we'll be advertising for applications,'' 
     Chapman said.
       He hopes to have a new superintendent hired by the first of 
     June, so they can spend a month working with Carter, since 
     his last day will be June 30.

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