Kentucky has billions in education funds. How do school districts get that money?
A few weeks into the 2024 General Assembly, Kentucky’s education budget and how it will affect the budget of local schools boards is under debate.
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear and House Republicans released their respective proposed budgets by the end of January.
A poll of 93 Kentucky public school superintendents showed the majority of them think the House GOP’s current budget plan doesn’t meet its own mandate on teacher retention and attraction. In a Kentucky Association of School Administrators survey, 96% said the increased funding of the per-pupil state education funding formula in House Bill 6 wouldn’t “enable the district to attract and retain teachers.”
A Q&A with Matt Ross, associate commissioner in the Kentucky Department of Education’s Office of Finance and Operations; Karen Wirth, director of the Division of Budget and Financial Management in the KDE Office of Finance and Operations; and Chay Ritter, director of the Division of District Support in the KDE Office of Finance and Operations helps explain how the budget works.
What was Kentucky’s education budget for 2024, including federal money?
$4.5 billion is the general fund only. $6.4 billion would be all funds. This budget has federal COVID funds that will go away in 2024.
How does SEEK funding work?
The Support Education Excellence in Kentucky — SEEK — funding program is a formula driven allocation of state funds to local school districts. The formula provides the state’s main share of school district funding. It includes funding for transportation costs, students learning the English language, special needs students, students who receive free meals, and some facilities money as reported by districts.
The General Assembly sets a base amount in adopting its two-year budget. For 2022-23, the state budget sets the base guarantee of $4,200 for each student in average daily attendance.
The local share is 30 cents for each $100 in taxable property in the district which is reduced from the SEEK funding formula. The state pays the rest.
Is the breakdown of state funds different from county to county, district to district?
Yes. The demographics and the property wealth determine how much state funding they get. For districts with less taxable property, the state share is larger. An example would be Wolfe or Owsley County. A property wealthy school district, such as Anchorage, will get less state funding. For districts with more property with higher values subject to tax, the state share is smaller.
What key things should parents and stakeholders look for in a budget to gain a better understanding of the impact it has?
They should understand that an increase in SEEK funding and SEEK transportation cost funding, as has been proposed by the governor and the House of Representatives, frees up additional funds for districts to expend towards student instruction.
For example, local school boards could direct this money towards reading interventionists; they may need to hire more translators or speech pathologists, special education teachers or really towards any instructional need.
The proposed budgets also contain funds for additional mental health supports at schools, additional Family Resource and Youth Services Centers money and stipends for recruiting new teachers.
Do politics ever play a role in education funding?
The General Assembly is responsible for creating the budget and that budget document is an expression of the General Assembly’s priorities, including educational priorities of the Kentucky Department of Education and constituents. The Kentucky Department of Education as part of the Executive Branch is responsible for implementing the budget and all laws adopted by the Legislative Branch.
This story was originally published January 30, 2024 at 6:00 AM.