New report: Spending in rural Kentucky school district has more than tripled since KERA, is higher than even in urban Fayette County

Only 8% of district’s eighth-graders proficient in math

(SAND GAP, Ky.) – While opponents of K-12 choice and reform claim a lack of funding is the primary cause for Kentucky’s poor education performance, a new Bluegrass Institute policy point released on Thursday shows spending and academic performance in rural school districts mirrors that of urban regions.

According to the report, “Higher K-12 spending, poor academic performance trending in rural Jackson County just as in urban Fayette,” inflation-adjusted per-pupil funding in Jackson County Public Schools has more than tripled – from $7,429 to $23,676 – since passage of the highly acclaimed Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) in 1990. Per-pupil funding was not only been higher than the state average every year since the early 2000s, it also surpassed Fayette County’s $22,621 in 2023.

Despite these dramatic spending increases, only 8% of Jackson County’s eighth-graders attained proficiency in mathematics while two-thirds failed to score “proficient” or above in reading. Barely one in four low-income students reached proficiency in eighth-grade reading. These outcomes indicate a decline from earlier grades, where a majority of the district’s fourth-grade students attained proficiency in reading and math.

In addition, ACT scores for the district’s 11th-graders have remained largely unchanged for the past 15 years.

“Rising spending coupled with stagnant or declining academic performance is trending in Kentucky’s rural districts, just as it is in urban areas,” said Bluegrass Institute president Jim Waters, who presented the findings during a community forum at the Sand Gap Community Center in Jackson County on Wednesday night.

“This trend has occurred for most years in the more than three decades since KERA, whose zealous supporters promised dramatic improvement in our public education system’s performance,” Waters added. “Such improvement has, without question, failed to occur.”

The policy point is the latest in a continuing series of data dives by Bluegrass Institute Scholar John Garen, Ph.D., revealing a dramatic and near-continuous rise in overall funding since 1990, yet very little improvement in educational outcomes, resulting in a large deterioration in the effectiveness of K-12 funding. 

Garen is a longtime economics researcher and teacher, is BB&T Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Kentucky and a member of the Bluegrass Institute Board of Directors.

The data snapshot of Jackson County is the first for a rural district in the series, which includes a look at similar trends in Jefferson and Fayette counties, the state’s two largest urban districts, and across the commonwealth as a whole. 

The forum was held to inform Jackson County residents about Amendment 2 that will be voted on in November’s election. The amendment would remove legal barriers to the type of education choice policies that a majority of states already offer their families.

Waters told the group that it’s time for Kentucky to follow the example of other states, where more choices for parents have resulted in better outcomes in public education systems.

“A rising tide lifts all boats,” he said.

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).

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