The 2025 legislative session came at a time when Kentuckians are not only demanding more from our education systems—they’re rethinking how those systems should work in the first place. The latest Big Bold Future National Rankings report confirms the stakes: Kentucky ranks 47th in preschool enrollment, 46th in postsecondary enrollment, and 44th in degree attainment. But across the state, communities aren’t waiting. Through FAFSA campaigns, early learning collaboratives, and new models for dual credit, tutoring, and diploma redesign, local leaders are building the future from the ground up. This session offered new tools to support that momentum—but real change will come from how we reimagine, re-center, and rebuild systems in partnership with the people they’re meant to serve.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 2025 SESSION
- HB 190: Automatic Enrollment in Advanced Coursework
Ensures qualified students are enrolled into advanced courses starting in grade 4, reducing gatekeeping and increasing access based on demonstrated mastery.
- HB 193: Dual Credit Scholarship Expansion
Removes grade-level restrictions on scholarships, allowing more students—especially in earlier grades—to access college-level coursework with financial support.
- HB 208: Cell Phone Policy in Schools
Directs local school boards to implement prohibitions on student use of personal devices during the instructional day, balancing local control with statewide expectations.
- HB 240: Kindergarten Readiness and Retention
Requires schools to give end-of-year reading assessments to all kindergarten and first-grade students, and to hold back students who do not meet reading goals for their grade level.
- HB 241: Virtual Learning Programs
Ensures school districts can maintain funding during disasters by allowing them to make up instructional hours and waiving up to five days and also sets clear standards for virtual learning to maintain educational quality in any setting.
- HB 298: School Turnaround Flexibility
Provides greater local flexibility in designing evidence-based improvement strategies for Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) schools.
- HB 342: Financial Literacy Graduation Requirement
Requires all high school students to complete a one credit course aligning academic experiences with essential life and workforce skills.
- SB 68: Learning Capacities Modernization
Updates definitions and expectations around learning capacities in schools, focused on workforce readiness and essential durable skills like critical thinking and problem solving.
- SB 207: Schools of Innovation and Instructional Materials
Allows approved "Schools of Innovation" to access regulatory waivers to enhance student achievement and operations and establishes two new entities to support districts in selecting high-quality instructional materials.
These policies, if implemented well, can support the local momentum we are already seeing in place-based work across Kentucky. But policy alone is not enough. We must invest in the infrastructure, advising, data, and partnerships that turn policy into impact.
Even as momentum built around student opportunity and system innovation, one bill introduced significant questions about how we support access and student success in higher education. House Bill 4 limits how public colleges and universities in Kentucky can design programs or offer services that focus on identity or background. It prohibits institutions from funding or requiring certain trainings, offices, or programs—even those that have helped students feel seen, supported, and ready to succeed. While the bill aims to promote a range of viewpoints, it introduces new uncertainty that could impact how campuses support students.
Because the language is broad, colleges may interpret the new law in different ways—some may continue offering broadly accessible supports and services, while others may limit programs out of caution. These varied responses could leave students unsure about the supports they can count on.
Even with these changes, the need for student support has not gone away. Community organizations will become increasingly important in helping students navigate college, stay on track, and reach their goals. It will be important to track the impact this has on already stagnant college going rates in Kentucky, particularly since an estimated 75% of good jobs will require some form of postsecondary training by the year 2040. To ensure all students continue to have a fair shot, colleges and partners must prioritize transparency—reporting on how policies affect access, persistence, and success—especially for those student groups already facing persistent achievement gap—and adjusting when needed.
THE PATH AHEAD
As the dust settles on the 2025 session, the Prichard Committee’s focus is squarely on turning policy into progress—through clear implementation, local engagement, and ongoing accountability. We are committed to a path forward built around:
- Empowering communities to lead improvement.
Through community profiles and place-based strategies, we are working alongside Kentuckians to design local solutions to challenges in early learning, school climate, and student transitions. Across the state, we see the power of strong partnerships—between schools, families, and local organizations—to remove barriers, expand opportunity, and drive sustainable change.
- Expanding access to advanced coursework and postsecondary pathways.
With HB 190 and HB 193 now law, our next steps include supporting districts to implement automatic enrollment fairly across the board, strengthen advising, and expand course availability—especially in under-resourced areas. We’ll continue working with partners to ensure students don’t just access advanced courses but thrive in them.
- Lifting up meaningful diplomas and transition readiness.
We’re working with employers, educators, and families to define what a high school diploma should signify in today’s economy—and to ensure all students leave high school ready for college, career, and community life. That means strengthening advising, boosting dual credit success, and ensuring durable skills are embedded in core instruction.
- Building better early childhood systems through family voice and workforce focus.
We are supporting communities in aligning early childhood programs with family needs and economic realities, including quality improvement strategies and support for providers. With Kentucky ranked 47th in preschool enrollment, this remains one of the most urgent investments the state must make.
- Improving data transparency and shared accountability.
We continue our call for strong public access to education data so communities can understand what’s happening and act on it. That includes data on school performance, course access, early learning participation, and postsecondary outcomes—broken down by region, race, and economic status.
- Rebuilding trust in public education through consistent community engagement.
We’ll continue to mobilize families, students, and educators to take part in local school decisions, improvement planning, and accountability conversations—with a growing emphasis on student efficacy, so young people see themselves as capable agents in their own learning and success. As the Big Bold Future report states, “transparency, accountability, and community participation” must be foundational to every effort.
The policies passed this session set the stage—but they won’t deliver results on their own. The challenge now is to turn opportunity into impact. That means local partnerships must move from intention to action. Schools can’t do it alone. Community organizations, nonprofits, and families have a critical role to play in making sure students are supported, systems are responsive, and progress is real. This is the moment calls for community-building as implementation—because lasting change grows from relationships, trust, and shared responsibility.
Kentucky’s future will be shaped by what we choose to do next, together.
