Bluegrass Institute Policy Point releases analysis of trends in K-12 education

‘Substantive snapshot’ looks at trends related to per-pupil funding, national and state test scores, Black-White achievement gaps, teachers’ salaries and non-teaching staff

For Immediate Release: Thursday, January 4, 2024

Contact: Jim Waters @ (270) 320-4376

(FRANKFORT) – A new policy point by the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, a free-market think, summarizes a host of trends and other notable facts involving the commonwealth’s K-12 education spending and performance over the past decades, up to the most currently available data.

“Generally speaking, overall funding has risen dramatically and nearly continuously since 1990, but educational test scores have changed very modestly,” wrote author John Garen, Ph.D., in an overview of the report, K-12 in Kentucky: A summary of facts and trends. “Moreover, the gap between Black and White student test scores is large and has risen.  Also, teacher salaries have no longer kept up with inflation, but hiring of non-teaching staff in schools has grown dramatically.  Additionally, as of 2022, at least half of Kentucky students are not proficient in grades 4 and 8 reading and math.”

Garen is BB&T Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Kentucky and a member of the Bluegrass Institute Board of Scholars.

Among the report’s key findings:

· Per-pupil funding, adjusted for inflation, rose by 122% – from $7,793 in 1990, when the General Assembly passed the Kentucky Education Reform Act, to $17,337 in 2022.

· Both state and national test scores indicate that a majority of Kentucky’s students are not proficient in grades 4 and 8 math and reading. State K-PREP 2022 results indicate over three-fourths of Black students are not proficient in any of these areas in either grade.

· From 1990 to 2020, non-teaching staff has grown by 55%, compared to only a 5% increase in the number of students; Kentucky’s teaching corps has grown by 21%.

· Comparing 2022 to 1990, per-pupil funding rose more than 10 times faster than teachers’ salaries.

· While SEEK funding has not kept pace with inflation, contributions for pension and health benefits have risen sharply. More than $1 billion is contributed annually to the Kentucky Teachers’ Retirement System from the state’s General Fund.

“With K-12 education funding expected to comprise the largest single portion of the state’s budget, taxpayers deserve a robust return on their investment. Bluegrass Institute President Jim Waters said. “The carefully researched information in this brief offers policymakers and taxpayers a substantive snapshot of important trends relevant to the current discussion on spending in our commonwealth.”

For more information, please contact author John Garen at jgaren1953@gmail.com or Bluegrass Institute president Jim Waters at jwaters@freedomkentucky.com or 270.320.4376 (cell).