Kentucky House Speaker David Osborne questioned the reliability of Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) data in response to the department’s prediction the day before that funding for public schools is facing a $40 million shortfall.
Osborne said in a statement Wednesday that lawmakers “are aware that estimates provided by the Department of Education and used to determine SEEK funding in the budget were inaccurate and have led to a shortfall.”
On Tuesday, state Education Commissioner Robbie Fletcher wrote in his weekly message that KDE is tracking a $40 million shortfall in SEEK funding for the 2024-25 school year
“We will continue to monitor the situation as we learn more about what caused it and receive the final figures in early March,” Osborne, a Republican from Oldham County, said. “The legislature remains committed to K-12 public education, providing historic levels of funding. And, we will continue to support the education of Kentucky children.”
The SEEK formula, or Support Education Excellence in Kentucky, is used to allocate state funding to local school districts. The formula has a base per-pupil funding allocation, along with additional funding for factors like transportation costs or the number of students in a district who qualify for additional resources like special education, free or reduced-price lunch, and English language assistance.
Osborne said that “budgets are based on previous experience and future estimates, which makes information provided by KDE critical to the process.”
“Multiple shortfalls over the past 15 years calls into question just how reliable that data is,” Osborne said. “This in turn provides further evidence that the work we are doing to ensure greater accountability for the resources provided on the state, local, and federal level is more important than ever.”
Fletcher began leading KDE after the Senate confirmed him in 2024. In his Tuesday message, he said a SEEK shortfall previously occurred four times between fiscal years 2010 and 2024.
Fletcher noted that while the estimated shortfall would encompass “critical” dollars for the state’s public schools, “it is important to keep in mind that it represents 1.43% of our overall SEEK funding of $2.7 billion.”
Fletcher also added that when planning estimated costs for each biennial state budget, KDE works with the Kentucky Office of the State Budget Director “to gather data projecting property values, public school enrollments and student special populations” as lawmakers consider the budget. Lawmakers will reconsider the state budget in the 2026 legislative session.
Fletcher said in a statement responding to Osborne’s comments Wednesday that KDE “look(s) forward to collaborating with the General Assembly on a solution to this and future funding issues facing our public school districts.”
The projected funding shortfall comes as a group of students with the Kentucky Student Voice Team (KSVT) filed a lawsuit against the state for failing to provide “an adequate and equitable public education.” Among claims in their suit, the students say eroding state financial support for school districts has made the inequality gap (among school districts) even wider than it was before 1990 — which was the year the SEEK formula was created under the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA).
A landmark state Supreme Court Decision, Rose v. Council for Better Education, prompted the General Assembly to enact KERA. The students’ claims rely heavily on the original case.
The Kentucky Student Voice Team said in a Wednesday statement that this year’s estimated SEEK shortfall was “disappointing” but “pales in comparison to the years of unconstitutional underinvestment that have left our public schools struggling without the resources needed to provide a quality and equitable education to all Kentucky students.” The group said base funding for education in Kentucky “has declined by approximately 25% when adjusted for inflation, and the state share of total education costs has fallen dramatically — from 75% to just 50%” since the 1990s.
“Our outdated funding formula leaves too many low-income districts struggling with less while wealthier districts have enough local resources to get by. The disparities, which narrowed after Rose, have now grown to levels deemed unconstitutional by the Kentucky Supreme Court,” KSVT said. “We can see the unfairness up close when we compare notes with our friends from different districts. Many of us struggle with inadequate technology and outdated textbooks, while others have an overflow of resources. Some of our schools even resort to online classes due to the shortage of available, qualified educators or settle for instruction from teachers without appropriate qualifications.
“That’s what happens when you rank 45th in the nation in average teacher starting pay with huge inconsistencies between wealthier and poorer districts.”
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Written by McKenna Horsley. Cross-posted from the Kentucky Lantern.
