HB 1 Has Passed. Kentucky’s Most Consequential Education Decision Still Lies in the Budget.

It also deserves perspective.

At KASS, that perspective begins with a clear understanding of what is known, what is not yet known, and what matters most for Kentucky’s public schools right now.

Because federal Treasury and IRS regulations are still being finalized, important operational and fiscal details connected to HB 1 remain unresolved. For that reason, KASS has adopted a position of informed neutrality at this time. That posture reflects neither passivity nor indifference. It reflects discipline. It reflects the responsibility to assess implementation based on facts, not assumptions, and to stay focused on the district-level consequences that matter most to students, families, and communities across the Commonwealth.

There are legitimate questions still to be answered. Whether public school students who remain enrolled in their local districts will be clearly eligible for scholarship support. Whether access will be meaningful across every region of Kentucky, including rural and low-density communities. Whether scholarship distribution patterns will be transparent and publicly reported. And whether long-term fiscal implications for public education funding will be monitored with the seriousness they deserve. Those are not peripheral concerns. They are central implementation questions that will determine whether this new framework supplements opportunity or creates uneven access and uncertainty.

At the same time, it is important not to confuse a major headline with the most consequential policy decision facing Kentucky schools this session.

That decision remains the state education budget.

For superintendents, district leaders, and the communities they serve, the budget is not an abstract policy exercise. It is the foundation for instructional stability, workforce competitiveness, transportation reliability, and the ability to plan responsibly beyond the next few months. While HB 1 implementation will unfold over time, the budget will shape district conditions immediately. That is where the most urgent work remains.

KASS has been consistent on this point. Our central priority is sustaining a strong, stable system of common schools through predictable, recurring state investment. That priority is not new, and it has not changed. Three funding commitments remain essential: a meaningful increase in the SEEK base, full pupil transportation funding, and strengthening Tier I to 20 percent. Together, those three refinements provide the clearest path toward restoring buying power, supporting instruction, and maintaining a competitive education workforce in every region of the state.

The House version of HB 500 reflects meaningful progress. It includes SEEK base increases in both years, restores transportation funding to current-year levels, continues Tier I support at 17.5 percent, and removes the health insurance premium cap. Those are important steps, and they reflect a budget process that has been thoughtful and intentional. KASS has said so clearly, and it is worth repeating. Progress matters. It should be acknowledged.

But progress is not the same as completion.

As the Senate continues its work, KASS’s budget position remains focused on what we have called the Big Three.

First, strengthen the SEEK base to $4,736 in FY27 and $4,891 in FY28. SEEK is the foundation of instructional funding in Kentucky. A stronger base provides recurring revenue for competitive teacher and classified salaries, protects instructional quality, and supports recruitment and retention in a workforce sector that remains under pressure. Recurring costs require recurring revenue. That principle should guide every serious budget discussion.

Second, fully fund pupil transportation using the updated spring statutory calculation of $491,979,038 annually. Transportation is not optional. It is a safety obligation and an access requirement. Yet the current allocation cited in KASS’s budget priorities funds only 81 percent of the statutory formula requirement, leaving a roughly $93 million annual shortfall that districts must absorb from general funds. That means dollars intended for classrooms, instruction, and salaries are instead diverted to cover transportation costs. Full funding would return those local dollars to their intended purpose and restore alignment with the statutory formula.

Third, increase Tier I from 17.5 percent to 20 percent. Tier I remains one of the strongest mechanisms in SEEK for ensuring access and opportunity regardless of geography. Moving to 20 percent would narrow gaps between property-poor and property-wealthy districts, strengthen local effort where tax base is limited, and provide more predictable recurring revenue statewide. Educational opportunity should not depend on zip code, and neither should access to qualified educators.

These three priorities work together. KASS’s analysis is that, when combined, they move districts approximately halfway toward restoring the buying power Kentucky schools had in 2008. That matters because district purchasing power has declined by more than 25 percent since then, the state-local funding ratio has inverted, and workforce competition has intensified. Recent progress is real, but sustained investment is still necessary to protect instructional quality and district stability over time.

This is the lens KASS is bringing to the current moment.

HB 1 has passed. It will move into an implementation phase shaped by federal rules, state decisions, and practical questions that are not yet settled. KASS will continue to monitor that process closely. Where opportunities exist for scholarship supports to strengthen a student’s public school experience, those possibilities should be understood clearly. Where transparency, eligibility, geographic access, and fiscal protection need attention, those issues should be raised directly and responsibly. That is what informed neutrality requires.

But the budget is where Kentucky’s immediate educational future is being determined.

The budget will decide whether districts have the recurring revenue needed to support strong instruction. It will decide whether transportation costs continue to crowd out classroom investment. It will decide whether the state-local partnership is strengthened or whether more burden continues to shift onto local communities. It will decide whether districts can remain competitive in attracting and retaining the people students need most.

That is why KASS’s message at this stage must remain disciplined and aligned.

This is not the moment to lose focus. It is not the moment to let one policy debate overshadow the foundational decisions that govern district stability and student opportunity statewide. Kentucky’s common schools need a budget that matches recurring obligations with recurring revenue. They need a state partnership that is steady, intentional, and grounded in the real operating conditions districts face every day.

There is meaningful progress to build on. There is also critical work still to do.

KASS will continue to advocate for a stronger SEEK base, full transportation funding, and Tier I at 20 percent because those priorities are directly connected to instructional quality, workforce strength, and long-term district stability. And KASS will continue to engage HB 1 implementation with seriousness, clarity, and discipline as more details emerge.

Kentucky’s public schools are making measurable progress. The responsibility now is to sustain that progress with sound policy, recurring investment, and a steady focus on what matters most.

That work continues.