Money Matters, Part 3-- Prichard Committee's "Big Bold Future"

In this third post about the importance of money in public education, we will examine the impetus and rationale for a comprehensive P-16 approach to education funding from the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence.  It is appropriate that such a bold plan should come from the Prichard Committee-- they played a significant role in the push for reform from the Rose decision through Kentucky Education Reform Act in 1990 and the reforms to higher education in the late 1990s. 

Kentucky has made impressive progress in education over the past generation.  After vaulting from near the bottom to around the middle, P-12 metrics have hit a plateau, even moving backwards in some key areas – from preschool to postsecondary – with persistent gaps for those historically underserved. These plateaus were seen before the COVID-19 pandemic, and now, nearly one year since many students have seen the inside of a classroom, we now face learning loss like never seen before.

The pandemic has laid bare the inequities of our system.  The U.S. poverty rate for school age children is higher than any advanced industrial nation in Europe, North America or Asia. A majority of public school children in 21 states were low income. As a region, southern states like Kentucky have the greatest percentage of total student population represented by low-income children.

The achievement gap between children from high and low income families is 30 to 40 percent worse among children born in 2001 than those born 25 years earlier.

Behind this achievement gap is a funding gap that is growing larger in Kentucky. The equity gap that shrank in Kentucky with the passage of the Kentucky Education Reform Act in 1990 has reversed. The funding gap between districts in the highest quintile and the lowest quintile is nearing pre-KERA levels. Public education in America and in Kentucky is not so much broken as it is under-resourced to educate all children—especially the most disadvantaged.

Even though tax revenue has recovered to above 2008 levels in most states, most states provide less support per pupil for elementary and secondary schools than before the Great Recession. Kentucky is one of only 12 states where funding per student is below the 2008 level. In fact, the Commonwealth’s 15.8 percent drop ranks third worst in the nation. The situation in postsecondary education is much worse.  And the challenges from the pandemic recession have led to double trouble.

The trend seems to be continued underfunding of public K-16 education as a consequence of fiscal policy. Fiscal policy in Kentucky is at a crossroads. As state leaders ponder tax reform it is critical to separate fact from myth about state fiscal policy and cost of consistent underinvestment in education.

This is where the Big Bold Future comes into play.  The Prichard Committee has quantified the path to a larger life supporting the educational success for all Kentuckians---$1 billion for education funding by 2026.  This P-16 approach starts with the enhancement of high quality early learning programs, which research has demonstrated to be some of the most effective ways to spend public money.  

At the other end of the spectrum, the Big Bold Future calls a more meaningful high school diploma as well as more equitable access and affordable postsecondary opportunities. 

The core belief of the plan is that public education is critical to the economic and social well-being of Kentucky. Success will require an ambitious agenda that ensures educational success for every Kentuckian.  Success will also require a grassroots effort.  The Prichard Committee has created the Groundswell Initiative as a "boots on the ground" campaign to realize a Big, Bold Future for Kentucky – with education at the core.  Every supporter of public education in the Commonwealth should sign up.

The importance of this work and the subsequent financial investment for our Commonwealth cannot be overstated.