Kentucky School Advocate
February 2025
In Conversation With features an interview between a leader or figure involved in public education and a representative of the Kentucky School Advocate.
Rep. Scott Lewis, R-Hartford, was superintendent of Hancock County Schools and Ohio County Schools before he was elected to represent the 14th district in the state House of Representatives in 2018. Before becoming an educator, he was a state trooper in Daviess County. Lewis was recently named chair of the newly formed Primary and Secondary Education Committee.
Q. You had a long career in education before you became a state representative, including serving as school superintendent in two different districts. Why did you want to become a state representative?
A. I was in education about 33 years and was a teacher, coach, elementary principal, middle school principal, high school principal and superintendent. As I was preparing to retire, there was a lot of discussion about public education and the direction it needed to go. I thought my knowledge could be a benefit, so I ran. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d still be here, going on my fourth term.
Q. Have the skills you learned as a superintendent helped in your role as a legislator and, if so, how?
A. In schools and in Frankfort, it’s all about working with people and building relationships and trust among your colleagues and others you work with. Legislators have varied backgrounds and different viewpoints. But you only know what you know. It’s about bringing people together on issues. It’s about collaborating and building relationships to get something passed that’s going to help all people.
Q. You’re the chair of a new committee that will focus solely on P- 12 education. How did you feel about being chosen?
A. Surprised and honored. I feel I have the experience to lead that committee. And I’m excited. I’ve hit the ground running and have a lot of ideas on things we can do, especially to benefit student outcomes. I think student outcomes is what this committee should be focused on.
Q. Why did leadership decide that primary and secondary education needed its own committee?
A. Education was taking so much time in committee because there are so many different issues in P-12 and postsecondary. It’s better for us to be focused on P-12, and then Rep. Tipton has postsecondary. This will allow us a better focus on the P-12 issues we deal with.
Q. The legislature reconvenes in early February. What are some issues your new committee plans to tackle?
A. I think getting more kids reading on grade level by 3rd grade is the most important issue facing education. If they’re not reading on grade level at that point, chances are they will stay behind the rest of their school years. A bill passed in 2022 helped do some things on that issue, and I’ve got some ideas on more we can do. There are some things we can do that don’t cost a lot of money and some things that will cost some money. The teacher shortage is also a major issue. We’ve got to do some things in our districts locally. I just visited Nelson County to see their apprenticeship program for teachers. They have partnered with WKU.
Q. After Amendment 2 was defeated, legislative leaders said now they will focus on accountability. Do you have any ideas how that will look?
A. There are talks going on now, and I tend to agree that reading and math should be the focus. Especially reading. In lower grades, if students can’t read, they’re not going to do word problems and math or anything else in their upper grades. We’ve also lost focus on basic skills kids really do need when they come out of school, like financial literacy: taxes, balancing checkbooks, basic things.
I also think we spend too much money on out-of-state companies that do testing. We already have some tools in our districts, diagnostic programs that every district uses during the year that would give us immediate results instead of waiting until a third of the way through the next year before we have the students’ results.
Q. There’s a perception among some educators that the legislature doesn’t support public education. You’ve been on both sides. How do you characterize the legislature’s feeling toward public education?
A. I think there’s been strained relationships starting in 2018 or 2019 when there was talk about pensions under the previous governor that was basically going to affect everybody’s pension. Since then, I think there has been some movement toward better relationships. And, I’ll say, the last two budgets we’ve passed have been good for public education as far as operating expenses and so forth. A superintendent at one of the districts where I once worked tells me all the time it’s one of the better budgets he’s had. We still need to get our transportation funding up, and we’re working on that. We’d like to see that at a 100 percent funding for districts. Several districts are so different in their salary schedule, we’ve got several districts that their starting pay for teachers is still in the thirties. We need to do some work there to get those up. Our districts are so varied, and there’s been a lot of talk that the state should mandate so much in raises. But the districts have state, local and federal money. So, when you do that, you’re basically mandating them to do some things that affect their other monies too, I think.
Also, what if there are districts out there that have done a good job and given 5% raises maybe two years in a row, then we mandate that they’re going have to give a 10% raise?
I think teachers should be paid higher than most professions, but for whatever reason, everywhere, all through the country, we don’t do that. So there always could be a push for more money. But I think our issue is starting pay. I think that’s where we’re losing them.
Q. KSBA has had a longstanding legislative priority to advocate for local control in school districts. Having been a superintendent and now a legislator, how do you see the issue of local versus statewide mandates?
A. I like local control. The districts where I was superintendent were way different than some surrounding districts. And communities sometimes expect different things. Even in state government, I think local control is better. There will be some things that we do mandate, but hopefully those won’t be anything so far out there that it’ll do harm to the district.
Q. What’s something you wish you could change about public education in Kentucky?
A. I wish all students had the parental support that we need. In our public schools, we have them when we have them and do the best we can, and then we send them home, maybe to an environment that is not like some of the environments that we grew up in. Today’s parents are so busy. The ones that even can take the time or do take time, it’s probably not as much time as they would like. I don’t know that we can ever change the social issues, but our focus has got to be on the time that we have them during the day. We have got to meet them where they are and do the best we can with them. In the ideal world, you would have parental support so that they’ve been read to when they get to kindergarten, that they know basic sight words and basic things that would help them be successful. But we don’t.
Q. You’ve been on both sides as an educator and a legislator, so how do you recommend that school board members and other public education supporters advocate for public education issues with their lawmakers?
A. I’ve said this to every group I’ve ever talked to. The best way is to reach out to your legislator and have a sit-down meeting to go over things that are important in the district. Some of our legislators may not have been in a school setting for years. And, we must make them aware of issues, not just by telling them but by inviting them into the schools to see what’s going on.
A lot of times in Frankfort we’re there, with our hand out, wanting stuff. These legislators need to know why we need what we ask for. It’s about building a relationship and finding common ground, and both sides need to do a better job of that. We all want the same things. We may have different ideas how to get there.
Q. Do you find that you’re getting invited into schools or having those one-on-one conversations with educators?
A. Yes, like today, I’ve been in Nelson County. I think one reason they invite me is that they know I’m a former educator, and they realize that when they speak to me, most of time I know what they’re talking about and what they have been through. But that’s why it’s so important to build a relationship with legislators who aren’t educators because they don’t know some of the things that we deal with during the school day.