<P> KET is the commonwealth's public television network, and is the largest PBS network in the nation . KET took the air in 1968 after a generous gift from Ashland Oil founder Paul G. Blazer . In addition to the PBS schedule, KET now airs programming aimed at local audiences and educational series used by some colleges in Kentucky as telecourses . </P> <P> In 1990, the Kentucky General Assembly passed the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) in response to a ruling the previous year by the Kentucky Supreme Court that the commonwealth's education system was unconstitutional . The court mandated that the Legislature was to enact broad and sweeping reforms at a systemic level, statewide . The changes were so unpopular with Kentucky's teachers that some of them began to refer to KERA as the "Kentucky Early Retirement Act," though no spike in teacher attrition actually occurred following KERA's passage . </P> <P> Since 1990, Kentucky had three major testing phases . </P> <P> The Kentucky Instructional Results Information Service (KIRIS) was used from 1992 to 1998, and included (for 4th, 8th, and 12th grades) open - response items, performance events, an on - demand writing prompt, and writing and mathematics portfolios . </P>

When did kentucky establish its public school system