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

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).

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March 12, 2025

Contact: Lisa McKinney, Communications Director, The Prichard Committee

(cell) 859-475-7202

‍lisa@prichardcommittee.org

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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.  

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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

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Statement from Brigitte Blom on the Passage of House Bill 190

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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.  

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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.

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