Kentucky School Advocate
May 2022
By Brenna R. Kelly
KSBA staff writer
After nearly 15 years during which cuts to public education funding were common, the new biennial budget that will go into effect this summer increases education spending – including boosting base SEEK, transportation, career and technical education, school construction and more.“The budget is a real success story of this session,” said KSBA’s Director of Advocacy Eric Kennedy. “Not just because of the programs that have had funding increased, but because of how unusual that has become.”
For multiple budget cycles public education advocates have held their breath bracing for what education funding would be cut and by how much.
“This budget is the first since 2008, where they had real, significant substantial amounts of money to invest in programs,” he said. “And we are grateful to see that what they invested in aligns well with KSBA’s board of directors’ budget priority agenda.”
Budget conference committee Co-Chairman Sen. Christian McDaniel, R-Ryland Heights, answers questions in a press conference following the completion of the committee on the new two-year budget. (Provided by LRC) House and Senate budget negotiators agreed on a 2022-24 spending plan in late March, just before the veto recess period. The final budget includes increasing SEEK base per pupil funding to $4,100 in the first fiscal year and $4,200 in the second year. The current amount is $4,000.The budget funds 70% of transportation costs for school districts, up from the current 55 percent. The last time district transportation costs were fully funded by the state was in 2004, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.
The new budget also includes $7.8 million for more mental health professionals for schools and $22 million for the Read to Succeed program. Family Resource and Youth Service Center funding was increased by about $20 million over the two years and Gifted and Talented Education funding was increased by about $7 million.
In addition to the increased education funding, the budget fully funds the requested investments in the Teachers’ Retirement System for pension and health benefits.
The budget also funds full-day kindergarten – something that was included in the House’s version of the budget but not the Senate version. It was added to the final budget during the conference committee.
Perhaps the biggest victory for public education in the new budget is funding for career and technical education (CTE), Kennedy said.
The budget nearly doubles operational funding for CTE including $58 million for for both standalone locally operated career and technology centers and centers connected to high schools and $6.8 million for state-run area technology centers. (See graphic, page 13)
The budget also includes $170 million for renovations to 24 local area vocational centers.
BeshearGov. Andy Beshear praised the legislature for including the CTE funding in the final budget. “In my lifetime I think this is one of the most significant investments in career and technical training,” he said. “I can see not only how excited the schools are but how excited the communities are.”
Beshear said the renovations at the 24 local centers would be a “game-changing investment” for CTE in Kentucky.
While Beshear praised the career and technical education funding, he said the Republican majority’s budget fell short for other areas of education.
“I deeply and I personally believe that we should be investing in our public schools and our educators,” he said, “and I provided a budget proposal that did just that, that actually met the moment that we are in and would have propelled us not just to a top 10 economy, but beyond an opportunity to have the best public education system in America.”
Beshear noted that his proposed budget included $2 billion in addition education spending that would have allowed the state to pay for universal preschool for 4-year-olds and a 5 percent raise for all school district personnel.
“We provided plenty of money to be able to do that, and so much more. General Assembly refused. The dollars were there,” he said.
Beshear said his proposed raise would help address the teacher shortage, caused in part he said by changes to the pension system – creating less incentive to become a teacher.
Sen. President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, comments on House Bill 1, the state budget bill, as the bill passes the Senate. (Provided by LRC) Beshear also pointed out that the legislature’s budget failed to restore past cuts to professional development and textbook funding.Republican legislative leaders said that since teachers are employees of school districts, not the state, school boards should decide whether to approve raises for teachers and staff. On the second to last day of the session, Stivers said with the increase in SEEK funding, he expects that every district will be able to give teachers a raise.
“Knowing what is there and the funding that has been placed in the SEEK formula, for people who are school board employees not state employees, I will bet anyone that they will get a raise this year based on what this legislature has provided,” he said.
However, Beshear said the legislature has mandated raises for school district employees in the past and could have done so again.
“With the budget we have, we should have done it. No, I don't think every school district will do it,” he said. “But I will be really happy if they do. And I'll be really happy if they do it in excess of what we put in our budget.”
School boards will be looking at their preliminary budgets this spring, and by state law boards must set employee compensation levels in a single salary schedule, Kennedy said. Since district employees are not state employees, their salaries are not controlled by the state.
“As a matter of local control, the salary levels, extra duty stipends, step increases and fringe benefits/optional insurance offerings vary across our 171 districts,” Kennedy said. “The difference between local board employees and state government employees is also evident in the frequency of raises, with many boards approving annual raises even in years when the state has not provided any raises to its employees.”
Kennedy explained that state workers have not had salary increases in 10 of the last 12 years, leaving a lot of ground for the state to make up for with its employees from social workers to corrections officers.
Top 10 budget wins for education 1. Full-day kindergarten funded.
2. Transportation reimbursement is increased to 70% of the statutory calculation and will go through the normal allocation formula. Vocational transportation is fully funded.
3. The SEEK base per-pupil amount is increased from $4,000 to $4,100 in the first year and $4,200 in second year.
4. The per-child rate for Family Resource and Youth Service Centers is increased to $210 from the current $183.
5. The amount of new School Facility Construction Commission offers of assistance over the next two years is increased to $85 million from $58 million.
6. Operational support for career and technical education (CTE) is nearly doubled. Increase will support locally operated centers (LAVECs) that qualify but are not funded, including unfunded pathways in funded centers; also funds programs within high schools that would qualify as a LAVEC if they were a separate center and fund some programs in high schools with fewer than five CTE pathways.
7. Includes 16 “special offers of assistance” and 24 “LAVEC renovation projects” as line-item funding.
8. Gifted and Talented support and reimbursement for education of children in the custody of state agencies are both increased.
9. Provides state equalization for “new nickel” taxes levied by local boards and the lifespan of equalization funding for nickels is increased to cover the full 20 years of a bond issue.
10. Fully funds requested amounts for Teachers’ Retirement System pension and health benefit contributions.