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John Garen's May 2024 Bluegrass Institute Policy Point documents a growing gap between spending and results in Fayette County Public Schools (FCPS). Inflation-adjusted per-pupil funding more than doubled from an estimated $10,769 in 1990 to $22,621 in 2023, a 110% increase that left FCPS spending 12% above the statewide average. Despite this, achievement has stagnated. On 2023 Kentucky Summative Assessment testing, 49% to 62% of FCPS students scored below proficient in fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math, and 70% or more of Black students failed to reach proficiency. ACT composite scores for 11th graders rose slightly through 2017 but have since declined, while a large White–Black score gap has persisted with little change.
The report also finds that the funding surge has not reached classroom teachers. Inflation-adjusted teacher salaries climbed from 2000 to the mid-2010s and then fell, ending 2023 just 1.06 times their 1990 level, even as per-pupil funding reached 2.1 times its 1990 level. Garen notes that part of the recent per-pupil increase reflects a 3.5% decline in average daily attendance rather than new investment alone. Taken together, the findings show funding far outpacing both teacher pay and student outcomes, with persistent proficiency and racial achievement gaps that added spending has not closed.
