March 28, 2025

Contact: Lisa McKinney, Communications Director, The Prichard Committee

(cell) 859-475-7202

lisa@prichardcommittee.org

Statement on the 2025 Kentucky Legislative Session from Brigitte Blom, the Prichard Committee

LEXINGTON, Ky — The 2025 General Assembly brought forward a series of education bills—some narrow in scope, others more sweeping—but together, they represent real shifts in how Kentucky supports students and schools. While no single measure defined the session, the cumulative effect is significant. Taken together, these policies signal new expectations for schools and postsecondary institutions—and new responsibilities for the communities that support them.

House Bill 190 is a powerful step forward in expanding opportunity and excellence in Kentucky high schools. The bill requires school districts to adopt plans to automatically enroll students who meet established benchmarks into advanced coursework such as Advanced Placement, dual credit, and other college-level classes. This is a needed step to ensure that readiness—not bias or barriers—determines access to challenging academic opportunities. When students are encouraged to take rigorous courses and supported to succeed, they are more likely to graduate prepared for college, career, and life.

House Bill 208 takes a proactive step to support student learning, focus, and well-being in Kentucky schools. The bill requires school districts to adopt policies prohibiting personal cell phone use during the school day—except for emergencies and instructional purposes—while also strengthening safeguards against harmful online content. By minimizing classroom distractions, the bill helps students stay engaged, build stronger peer relationships, and develop healthy digital habits.

House Bill 4 limits how public colleges and universities in Kentucky can design or fund programs for historically underrepresented students. With Kentucky ranking 46th in postsecondary enrollment and 44th in degree attainment—and wide gaps in outcomes by race and ethnicity—the state must closely monitor how these changes affect access, support, and completion. Today, 61% of Asian or Pacific Islander and 36% of white Kentuckians aged 25–64 hold an associate degree or higher, compared to just 29% of Black and 27% of Hispanic or Latino Kentuckians. As institutions adjust, local communities and nonprofits will play an increasingly important role in ensuring all students have the support they need to enroll, persist, and succeed.

The 2025 Big Bold Future National Rankings Report makes clear where Kentucky must focus its efforts—from early childhood to postsecondary access and degree attainment. It shows us not just where we stand, but where we need to go. Kentucky’s future will be shaped not only by what happens in Frankfort, but by the everyday decisions made in classrooms and communities across the Commonwealth. The Prichard Committee stands ready to support community members, state leaders, families, and schools in coming together for the common good of Kentucky’s students and the future of our Commonwealth.

------

The Prichard Committee believes in the power and promise of public education –early childhood through college– to ensure Kentuckians’ economic and social well-being. We are a citizen-led, non-partisan, solutions-focused nonprofit, established in 1983 with a singular mission of realizing a path to a larger life for Kentuckians with education at the core.

By: Jonathan Plucker and Brenda Berg

The Kentucky General Assembly is currently considering a bill that would require school districts to establish policies for automatic enrollment in the Commonwealth’s public schools. Introduced by Rep. Robert Duvall and co-sponsored by Rep. Vanessa Grossl, HB 190 passed the House unanimously and can be considered by the Senate in the session’s final two legislative days on March 27  & 28.      

Automatic enrollment is one of the most intriguing educational innovations in recent years. Also known as auto-, mandatory, or opt-out enrollment, the concept is simple: Students who perform at advanced levels in their classes oron state tests are automatically enrolled in advanced courses for the following academic year.

This commonsense reform is based on the observation that many high-performing students are not receiving advanced learning opportunities, even when there is clear evidence that they are ready to advance academically. This is especially true for low-income and rural students, who have much less access to rigorous advanced opportunities, ranging from gifted education to accelerated coursework to AP courses. Recent research demonstrates there are many such students, leading to a chronic under challenging of many of our brightest children. As a result, these students are less likely to be ready for today’s workforce or post-secondary education.

As a case in point, Western Kentucky University and Johns Hopkins University recently collaborated on Project Launch Plus. This initiative identified talented students in low-income, rural communities in Kentucky and North Carolina and provided them with advanced education. Although we anticipated finding many eligible students, the sheer number exceeded our expectations. There is tremendous talent in every single one of Kentucky’s schools, but many of these students do not have the necessary opportunities to develop those talents fully. The provisions in HB 190 will help provide those opportunities.

We encourage Senate Leadership to bring final passage to House Bill 190 so that Kentucky students can begin benefiting from its provisions.

Concerns about automatic enrollment tend to focus on cost and implementation. Regarding cost, we point to North Carolina’s experience, which began with passage of its auto-enrollment law for mathematics in 2018. The state education agency and districts now have years of experience with implementation and have seen impacts well beyond expectations by elevating the overall importance of advanced coursework opportunities. Cost proved not to be an issue: In the end, the same number of teachers educates the same number of students, leading to no additional financial burden on the state or school districts.

Implementation was challenging in some districts but can be overcome. For example, due to teacher inexperience with advanced coursework and small numbers of identified students, some districts used a range of non-traditional staffing options to promote access, including staff-sharing, transporting students, and online courses to ensure that all eligible students are able to access challenging coursework. In other cases, it was simply not on their radar that they weren’t offering advanced courses commensurate with other districts, and they could just reassign existing staff to, for example, teach algebra instead of the standard 8^th grade course.

Despite these implementation challenges, North Carolina’s experience is a major policy success, with thousands of additional students enrolling in advanced math courses each year. An important key to the state’s success is that auto-enrollment begins in elementary school, before students get lost in the transitions to middle and high school. The effects appear to be most significant with middle school students and those from traditionally underserved backgrounds, such as the rural and low-income students noted above. Similar success in Kentucky would transform the STEM pipeline in the Commonwealth.

If passed and signed into law, House Bill 190 allows the Kentucky Board of Education to create regulations to administer the new provisions. We strongly encourage the Board to require the Kentucky Department of Education to (1) collect districts’ advanced education plans to promote public access to the information and (2) issue an annual report summarizing the impact of auto-enrollment, including district level reports of the number and percentage of eligible students served. Annual reports in North Carolina have been invaluable data sources for tracking the impact of the law.

HB 190 is bold, innovative, and highly likely to be effective. It will provide a strong foundation for efforts to help Kentucky’s students excel in the classroom and eventually in the workforce.

Jonathan Plucker is a professor at Johns Hopkins University and a past-president of the National Association for Gifted Children. Brenda Berg is President & CEO of BEST NC (Business for Educational Success and Transformation in North Carolina).

‍

March 12, 2025

Contact: Lisa McKinney, Communications Director, The Prichard Committee

(cell) 859-475-7202

‍lisa@prichardcommittee.org

‍

LEXINGTON, Ky — With the passage of Kentucky House Bill 208 in the House, the commonwealth is one step closer to fostering learning environments that prioritize academic success, social and emotional well-being, and safety in schools. Congratulations to bill sponsor Rep. Josh Bray for his work on the legislation.

The academic benefits of limiting personal device use in schools are well-documented. Research shows that grades improve when students are not dividing their attention between learning and their devices. Teacher morale and retention also improve when the burden of managing smartphone distractions is lifted, allowing them to concentrate on instruction and student engagement.

The social and emotional health benefits are equally compelling. Schools that minimize device use report increased feelings of connectedness and cohesion among students, leading to less loneliness and decreased bullying. Encouraging face-to-face interaction helps students develop essential interpersonal skills, build confidence, and foster healthy in-person relationships.

By creating learning environments free from the distractions and potential harms of personal devices, we empower all students to thrive.  

------

The Prichard Committee believes in the power and promise of public education –early childhood through college– to ensure Kentuckians’ economic and social well-being. We are a citizen-led, non-partisan, solutions-focused nonprofit, established in 1983 with a singular mission of realizing a path to a larger life for Kentuckians with education at the core.

March 7, 2025

Contact: Lisa McKinney, Communications Director, The Prichard Committee

(cell) 859-475-7202

‍lisa@prichardcommittee.org

‍

Statement from Brigitte Blom on the Passage of House Bill 190

‍

LEXINGTON, Ky — With the unanimous passage of HB 190 in the Kentucky House, the commonwealth is one step closer to expanding access to advanced coursework to every qualified student. Congratulations to bill sponsors Reps. Robert Duvall and Vanessa Grossl for their work on this key education legislation.

HB 190 directs each local board of education to develop an accelerated learning plan outlining how students in grades 4-12 can access advanced coursework in language arts, mathematics, social studies and science. The bill institutes automatic enrollment for students who achieve a Distinguished score on statewide assessments, while granting parents and principals the authority to withdraw students from these courses.
 
When qualified students are overlooked for advanced coursework, they miss out on key learning that will help them succeed post-graduation, and Kentucky’s economy misses out on opportunities to build a more skilled workforce. When students have access to advanced coursework, they are more likely to be prepared for college, career, and life after high school. By establishing a statewide framework for advanced coursework, HB 190 represents an important step toward expanding access to challenging learning opportunities for Kentucky students.  

-------

The Prichard Committee believes in the power and promise of public education –early childhood through college– to ensure Kentuckians’ economic and social well-being. We are a citizen-led, non-partisan, solutions-focused nonprofit, established in 1983 with a singular mission of realizing a path to a larger life for Kentuckians with education at the core.

‍

Contact: Lisa McKinney, Communications Director, The Prichard Committee

(cell) 859-475-7202

lisa@prichardcommittee.org

The Prichard Committee Releases 2025 Groundswell Community Profiles

Profiles show strong points and weak spots on indicators of education and economic well-being for each Kentucky school district

‍

LEXINGTON, Ky — The Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence today released the 2025 Groundswell Community Profiles, offering an in-depth look at the state of education in each of Kentucky’s 171 school districts. These profiles provide key indicators of learning progress from early childhood through postsecondary education, enabling communities to compare local school district performance to state averages on critical education measures.

As part of its commitment to fostering community engagement in education, the Prichard Committee updates and publishes the Groundswell Community Profiles annually ensuring Kentuckians have access to essential local data on educational progress.  

“Real, lasting progress in education and economic outcomes happens when communities are deeply engaged at the local level,” said Prichard Committee President/CEO Brigitte Blom. “It’s up to all of us to take an active role in shaping the educational landscape of our commonwealth. The Groundswell Community Profiles are designed to spark local discussions on bridging educational gaps, using the unique strengths and resources of each community to build a brighter future for all Kentuckians.”

Beyond education, the profiles incorporate economic and health data linked to educational success, illustrating the long-term influence of learning on both individual and community well-being.

The profiles are a companion to the Big Bold Future National Rankings Report, which was released last week by the Prichard Committee. Although the National Rankings Report showed Kentucky is recovering from COVID-19 learning losses faster than most states, many of the quality-of-life indicators show Kentucky declining in the rankings among the 50 states or improving too slowly to move Kentucky up into the top 20 states within a decade.

“The 2025 Groundswell Community Profiles complement the Big Bold Future National Rankings Report, illustrating how improvements at the local level collectively raise Kentucky’s standing among all 50 states,” said Todd Baldwin, director of the Center for Best Practices and Innovation at the Prichard Committee. “By identifying each district’s strengths and needs, the profiles help communities tailor strategies that boost student success, enhance workforce readiness, and improve quality of life. As more local districts make measurable progress, Kentucky moves upward in the national rankings—proving that when every community thrives, the entire commonwealth benefits.”

To explore the 2025 Groundswell Community Profile for your school district, visit prichardcommittee.org/community-profiles.

------

The Prichard Committee believes in the power and promise of public education –early childhood through college– to ensure Kentuckians’ economic and social well-being. We are a citizen-led, non-partisan, solutions-focused nonprofit, established in 1983 with a singular mission of realizing a path to a larger life for Kentuckians with education at the core.

Feb. 6, 2025

Contact: Lisa McKinney, Communications Director, The Prichard Committee

(cell) 859-475-7202

lisa@prichardcommittee.org

‍

Statement from Brigitte Blom, President/CEO of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence

‍

LEXINGTON, Ky — Today, the Prichard Committee released the 2025 edition of the Big Bold Future National Rankings Report, and bluntly, much of the new evidence is troubling.

In 2020, the Prichard Committee urged all Kentuckians to join the work of creating a Big Bold Future for the Commonwealth. To frame that work, we identified key indicators of educational achievement and quality of life to compile into a biennial national rankings report. Together, these data points let us:

• Compare our work to other states
• Analyze trends over the years
• See results for Kentuckians of varied backgrounds and ages
• Find cause for celebration
• Recognize areas of concern

The 2025 report contains some good news. Kentucky is moving back toward 2019 reading and math test scores, as shown in last week’s results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The NAEP scores indicate Kentucky has been more successful than most other states in recovering from the learning loss that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, our NAEP scores have not fully bounced back to 2019 levels, and the 2019 levels were not strong enough. However, most other indicators show Kentucky declining in the rankings among the 50 states or improvement that is too slow to move Kentucky up into the top 20 states within a decade. Below are Kentucky’s rankings on the 14 included indicators: Bright Spots

• 4th of 50 states in high school graduation rate
• 4th in two-year postsecondary graduation rate
• 12th in grade four reading

Strong Trends (on pace to be one of the top 20 states in another decade)

• 25th and rising in voter turnout
• 27th and rising in four-year postsecondary graduation rate

Weak Trends (not on pace to be one of the top 20 states in the next decade)

• 32nd and rising slowly in grade 8 math
• 33rd and rising slowly in babies with healthy birth weight
• 46th and rising slowly in life expectancy

Declining/Flat Rankings

• 42nd and declining in households with broadband access
• 44th and unchanged in residents holding associate degrees or higher
• 46th and declining in children living at or above the poverty line
• 46th and declining in postsecondary enrollment
• 46th and unchanged in household median income
• 47th and declining in preschool enrollment

These results should summon us all to new effort.

The Prichard Committee now calls on the whole state to respond to this hard news with fresh energy and determination. As people who love Kentucky, let’s join together and get to work on building deeper insights, deeper engagement, and deeper investment, both at the state level and in each of our local communities. We invite everyone to explore the report’s evidence here, and we invite all Kentuckians to join us in renewed efforts to make education Kentucky’s pathway to a larger life and a Big Bold Future for all of us. The Prichard Committee believes in the power and promise of public education –early childhood through college– to ensure Kentuckians’ economic and social well-being. We are a citizen-led, non-partisan, solutions-focused nonprofit, established in 1983 with a singular mission of realizing a path to a larger life for Kentuckians with education at the core.

-------

The Prichard Committee believes in the power and promise of public education –early childhood through college– to ensure Kentuckians’ economic and social well-being. We are a citizen-led, non-partisan, solutions-focused nonprofit, established in 1983 with a singular mission of realizing a path to a larger life for Kentuckians with education at the core.