Friend of Education Award
2022 Recipients


2022 Friend of Education Award
Steve Riley, State Representative

Other Leadership Awards

Administrator of the Year

Distinguished Service Award

Wanda Luttrell Office Professional Award

Fred Award  

Superintendent of the Year Award

William T. Nallia Award
State Representative Steve Riley of Glasgow was presented the KASA 2022 Friend of Education Award at the KASA Annual Leadership Institute in Louisville on July 28.

The KASA Friend of Education Award is presented periodically to individuals who have gone the extra mile during their careers to foster and promote public education in Kentucky. 

Rep. Riley started his career as a teacher and coach at Lindsey Wilson College, and then for 31 years as a teacher, coach and administrator in the Barren County School System. “I always wanted to coach and teach,” Riley commented on his path to a career in education. 

Upon retirement from the Barren County Schools, Riley sought and was elected from House District 23 to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 2017. During his tenure in the legislature, Riley has been an unabashed and unapologetic supporter of public education, often challenging legislative leadership to oppose legislation attacking our public schools. 

During the 2021 Special Legislative Session, Riley served as acting Chair of the House Education Committee and carefully shepherded important legislation through the House dealing with Covid, remote instruction, NTI Days and provisions to deal with critical staffing shortages in public education. Ultimate passage of this legislation was always in doubt and in danger of being derailed due to the controversial nature of many of the provisions, but Rep. Riley managed to bring various factions together in the Education Committee and the House floor to pass SB 1 in the limited timeframe under which the legislature was operating during the special session. 

In the 2021 and 2022 regular legislative sessions, Riley stepped up to oppose bills that disregard public education’s challenge to educate all students who come through their doors by eroding the funding base for public schools in favor of alternative forms of education delivery.
 


 Year Recipient
 2022  Steve Riley, State Representative