The Jefferson County Board of Education will consider chipping in to help fund a study which aims to show how Kentucky’s new education reforms are underfunded.
“The study is going to reveal, I just think, the whole entire picture. So I believe that’s important information for all of us to have,” says JCPS school board member Linda Duncan. The Council for Better Education—which represents nearly all of Kentucky's school districts—says the study will show how Kentucky’s new initiatives, like emphasis on college-and-career readiness, are not being adequately funded. Officials announced the council will pay for the study this month. The council is funded through member fees based on student populations, but school districts can voluntarily help pay for the study. The cost to JCPS would be just over $21,000, which is also based on student populations. Council president and Fayette County Schools superintendent Tom Shelton told WFPL the study would not be finished by the start of this coming legislative session. But it is underway, according to a report from the Kentucky School Boards Association. Further, the report says 119 of the 169 school districts the council represents have already agreed to help pay for the $130,000 study. The JCPS board is expected to vote on helping to fund the study during Monday's board meeting.
