Lexington cannot celebrate graduation rates while ignoring reading, math scores | Opinion

In Lexington, we spend enormous energy debating transparency, budgets, and board politics within Fayette County Public Schools. Those issues matter, but they are not the heart of what is failing too many of our children. The central crisis facing our district is far simpler and far more urgent: we are not preparing students with the foundational skills they need to succeed, and our teachers are being asked to compensate for gaps that should have been addressed years earlier.

As a member of the SBDM committee at a local middle school, I see firsthand what the public often does not. Students are entering sixth grade unprepared, unable to read or perform math at grade level, and our middle schools are then expected to remediate years of missed learning while also teaching new, grade-level content. The system is essentially asking teachers to build a house while repairing the foundation at the same time.

If we demanded true proficiency in elementary school rather than advancing students who have not mastered basic skills, many of the challenges we now face in middle and high school would never develop. Instead, we push students forward regardless of readiness, and then wonder why so many struggle, why behavior issues rise, and why teachers are overwhelmed.

The latest 2025 Kentucky Summative Assessment results make the problem impossible to ignore. In Fayette County Public Schools, 47 percent of elementary students are not “distinguished” or “proficient” in reading, the two highest categories on the test. Fifty-two percent are not proficient or distinguished in math. In middle school, 48 percent are below those categories in reading and 53 percent are below that in math. At the high school level, 50 percent are not proficient or distinguished in reading, with 58 percent in math.

These numbers are alarming. They mean that nearly half of FCPS students at every level are not meeting basic educational benchmarks, the very skills expected of students years younger in top-performing states. Yet we continue to tout a 93 percent graduation rate, celebrating the number while ignoring the reality that many graduates leave high school without proficiency in core subjects.

What exactly are we celebrating?

Other states have already shown what is possible when early literacy and math mastery become non-negotiable. Mississippi, once ranked last in the nation in education, rose to sixteenth by taking a clear position. If students could not read by third grade, they did not move on to fourth. The state invested heavily in early phonics, literacy supports, coaching, and accountability, and students responded. The results are undeniable.

Kentucky, by contrast, still ranks in the bottom half nationally. Instead of striving to meet national or global standards, we often compare ourselves to other districts within the state as if our goal is simply not to be last in Kentucky. Our expectations should be higher, not for prestige, but because our children deserve nothing less.

If Lexington wants to lead, we must stop accepting excuses and start demanding excellence. Greatness does not come from moving students along. It comes from equipping them with the skills they need to thrive in life. The world does not slow down to accommodate young adults who struggle with basic literacy or numeracy. Employers expect competence. Colleges expect readiness. Life expects both.

Our teachers are working heroically, but they cannot compensate for a system that promotes students before they are prepared. If we want to support educators, we must ensure that students have mastered foundational skills, not ask teachers to perform academic triage year after year.

Fayette County Public Schools must do more than maintain a high graduation rate. It must ensure that the diplomas students receive represent real achievement. That requires addressing proficiency gaps early, consistently, and decisively. It requires setting our expectations alongside the best-performing states rather than settling for internal comparisons. And it requires acknowledging that students deserve high standards, honest accountability, and adults who refuse to settle for anything less.

Lexington’s children deserve a school system that believes in their potential enough to demand proficiency. If we want to prepare our students for the world, we must stop praising statistics that hide the truth and start building an education system worthy of every child who walks through its doors.

Rock Daniels is a local business owner and community advocate in Lexington.