Kentucky

News, analysis, and opinion about K-12 education in Kentucky
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear speaks during an election night rally after he was elected to a second term in Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 7, 2023. At right is his wife Britainy Beshear.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear speaks during an election night rally after he was elected to a second term in Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 7, 2023. At right is his wife Britainy Beshear.
Timothy D. Easley/AP
States Liberals Win Hotly Contested School Board Races in Backlash to Conservative Control
A Democrat who championed teacher pay raises was also reelected Kentucky's governor and Democrats won legislative majorities in Virginia.
Libby Stanford, November 8, 2023
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6 min read
Two elementary students read together on a bench at UCLA on Jan. 21, 2020 in Los Angeles.
Two elementary students read together on a bench at UCLA on Jan. 21, 2020 in Los Angeles.
Allison Shelley for EDUimages
School & District Management Video How This Superintendent Overhauled Literacy Instruction
This Kentucky superintendent made overhauling literacy instruction a top priority. Two years later, he’s already seeing results.
Elizabeth Heubeck & Lauren Santucci, September 29, 2023
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3:16
A line of yellow buses passes through a parking lot.
Jefferson County Public Schools school buses makes their way through the Detrick Bus Compound on the first day of school on Aug. 9, 2023, in Louisville, Ky. Kentucky’s largest school system called off six days of school after a disastrous overhaul of the transportation system that left some children on buses until almost 10 p.m. on opening day.
Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal via AP
School & District Management A District's Bus 'Disaster' Highlights a Nationwide Driver Shortage
A transportation meltdown caused a district to cancel six days of classes as schools nationwide struggle to hire enough bus drivers.
Evie Blad, August 15, 2023
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5 min read
People gather for a rally organized by LGBTQ youth and adults in opposition to Senate Bill 150 and also to celebrate Trans Day of Visibility in Lexington, Ky., Friday, March 31, 2022.
People gather for a rally organized by LGBTQ youth and adults in opposition to Senate Bill 150 and also to celebrate Trans Day of Visibility in Lexington, Ky., Friday, March 31, 2022.
Silas Walker/Lexington Herald-Leader via TNS
States Ky. Education Commissioner Says ‘Dangerous’ Anti-LGBTQ Law Led to His Resignation
Kentucky’s top education leader said he didn’t want to enforce the new Senate Bill 150 that critics have called an anti-LGBTQ measure.
Valarie Honeycutt Spears, Lexington Herald-Leader, August 2, 2023
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2 min read
Protesters cheer outside Senate chambers at the Indiana Statehouse on March 22, 2023, in Indianapolis. Indiana schools may soon be required to notify parents if their child requests a name or pronoun change at school, after state Senators on April 10, 2023, advanced a bill that some worry could out transgender kids to their parents.
Protesters cheer at the Indiana Statehouse on March 22, 2023, in Indianapolis. Indiana schools may soon be required to notify parents if their child requests a name or pronoun change at school, after state lawmakers advanced a bill that some advocates worry could out transgender kids to their parents.
Arleigh Rodgers/AP
Equity & Diversity Pronouns for Trans, Nonbinary Students: The States With Laws That Restrict Them in Schools
Under the laws, teachers aren’t required to use trans or nonbinary students’ requested pronouns.
Eesha Pendharkar, June 14, 2023
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7 min read
Illustration of a father and daughter in a classroom. The father is struggling to understand the math his daughter is learning.
J.R. Bee for Education Week
Mathematics Parents Are Often Nervous About Math. They Can Still Help Their Kids Learn It
Games that get at core numeracy skills and family nights where parents learn about changing methods can dial down the stress.
Evie Blad, May 1, 2023
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7 min read
Close up shot of some money overlapping a partial paystub revealing some blurred numbers and the words Total Pay, Taxes, and Deductions.
iStock/Getty
Teaching Profession Lawmakers Target How Teachers’ Unions Collect Dues
Teachers often opt to have union dues deducted from their paychecks. Republicans in some states are fighting to change that.
Madeline Will, April 6, 2023
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8 min read
Image of a paddle.
dannikonov/Getty
School Climate & Safety Q&A How a Student's Push to End Paddling in Schools Became a Yearslong Civics Lesson
A student advocate pushed to end corporal punishment in his state—and gained a passion for civic involvement in the process.
Evie Blad, November 22, 2022
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7 min read
Illustration of people linking arms together surrounding a school building
iStock/Getty Images
Recruitment & Retention Opinion What One School Is Doing to Keep Its Teachers
In just three years, my school boosted teacher retention from 63 percent to 100 percent. Here's how.
Sarah Yost, October 13, 2022
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5 min read
A Black man in jeans and a tan, short-sleeve shirt and navy pants holds a cell phone to his ear with one hand while he uses his other hand to drag a large grey trash can filled with water from a nearby tanker truck across a school parking lot.
Santonia Matthews, a custodian at Forest Hill High School in Jackson, Miss., hauls away a trash can filled with water from a tanker in the school's parking lot Wednesday. A recent flood worsened Jackson's longstanding water system problems, forcing schools to switch to remote learning.
Rogelio V. Solis/AP
School & District Management Emergency Readiness Lessons From a District's Water Crisis
District leaders in Jackson, Miss., relied on "muscle memory" to get kids back in remote learning when the city's water system failed.
Evie Blad, September 2, 2022
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7 min read
Conceptual image of diversity.
iam2mai/iStock/Getty
Equity & Diversity In a State With an Anti-CRT Law, a New Initiative Seeks to Coach Schools on Equity
Seventy-four Kentucky districts are scheduled to begin coaching sessions next month as part of the pioneering program.
Eesha Pendharkar, August 24, 2022
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5 min read
Dena Keeling, a former equity officer for the Orange County (NC) School District, now works for the University of North Carolina, which partners with Durham Public Schools for equity work.
Dena Keeling, the former chief equity officer for the school district in Orange County, N.C., now works for the University of North Carolina, which partners with a different K-12 school system on issues of equity.
Kate Medley for Education Week
Equity & Diversity Backlash, Hostility, and Safety Fears: What It's Like to Be a Chief Equity Officer in the Anti-CRT Era
Three equity officers faced scrutiny, criticism, and personal threats, which intensified during the anti-critical race theory push.
Eesha Pendharkar, July 19, 2022
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14 min read
Montgomery County teacher and Kentucky Teacher of the Year, Willie Carver, in downtown Mt. Sterling, Ky., on May 11, 2022.
Montgomery County teacher and Kentucky Teacher of the Year, Willie Carver, in downtown Mt. Sterling, Ky., on May 11, 2022.
Arden Barnes for Education Week
Equity & Diversity Citing Anti-Gay Discrimination, a Teacher of the Year Leaves the Classroom
Kentucky's 2022 Teacher of the Year Willie Carver Jr. said he had been unable to find support from his school administration.
Valarie Honeycutt Spears, Lexington Herald-Leader, June 28, 2022
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3 min read
Montgomery County teacher and Kentucky Teacher of the Year, Willie Carver, in downtown Mt. Sterling, Ky., on May 11, 2022.
Willie Carver is the 2022 Kentucky Teacher of the Year and teaches high school English and French in the Montgomery County, Ky., public schools.
Arden Barnes for Education Week
Teaching Profession In Their Own Words 'I'm Afraid to Return to the Classroom': A Gay Teacher of the Year Speaks Out
Willie Carver, Jr., the 2022 Kentucky Teacher of the Year, is questioning his future as a teacher given recent anti-LGBTQ legislative efforts.
Madeline Will, May 12, 2022
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8 min read
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