Table of Contents
This policy brief documents a stark disconnect between K-12 education spending and student outcomes in Kentucky. From 1990 to 2022, inflation-adjusted per-pupil funding more than doubled — rising 122% from $7,793 to $17,337 — yet NAEP test scores changed only modestly over the same period, with all four tracked metrics (grades 4 and 8 reading and math) actually declining since 2013. Meanwhile, the racial achievement gap widened, teacher salaries barely kept pace with inflation, and the growth in education spending was absorbed largely by non-teaching staff hires and rising pension and benefit costs.
Key Takeaways
- More money has not meant better results. Per-pupil funding is 2.22 times its 1990 level in real terms, yet test scores are essentially flat — ranging from a 1.6% decline to an 8.8% gain — and as of 2022, over half of Kentucky students are not proficient in core subjects on the K-PREP, with NAEP results showing more than two-thirds below proficiency.
- Spending growth is going to bureaucracy and benefits, not classrooms. Non-teaching staff grew 55% from 1990 to 2020 while student enrollment rose just 5%. Within state funding, "on behalf" payments for pensions and health benefits have surged, crowding out SEEK formula dollars and other instructional support.
- The achievement gap is getting worse, not better. The gap between White and Black student scores widened across all four NAEP tests between 1990 and 2022, with more than 85% of Black students scoring below proficient on the national assessment — a deeply troubling equity failure despite decades of increased investment.
The data presented in this report make a compelling case that Kentucky's current approach to K-12 education — channeling ever-increasing dollars through the same institutional structures — is failing students, particularly the most disadvantaged. Policymakers should take these findings as an urgent call to rethink how education dollars are allocated and to explore reforms that empower families with greater choice, direct more resources into the classroom, and hold the system accountable for results rather than simply rewarding it with more funding.
