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Fewer schools achieve CATS goals; many students languish in mediocrity

(Bowling Green, Kentucky) – With the release of the 2006 CATS scores on Thursday, the defenders of Kentucky’s mediocre public-education system offered their usual spin.

Education officials across the state steadfastly refuse to acknowledge that our state’s public schools are not making the academic progress commensurate with the huge investment taxpayers continue to make in our state’s education system. Neither is the progress sufficient for schools to reach 100-percent proficiency in core academic subjects by 2014 that parents expect in accordance with the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

In its response to the latest test scores, the Kentucky Department of Education completely ignored the fact that fewer schools achieved their two-year goals this year than in 2004. Instead, it proclaimed that “more than half of the state's public schools met or exceeded their individual goals.”

Reminiscent of a public-relations campaign in the face of failing stock reports, education bureaucrats continue offering their favorite claim that Kentucky students are becoming better readers. However, the 10th-grade reading proficiency rate based on CATS scores in Kentucky is only about 41 percent.

“ACT reading scores for Kentucky high-school graduates this year still trail the rest of the nation,” said Richard Innes, education analyst for the Bluegrass Institute, Kentucky’s free-market think tank. “And no one is saying the current rate of proficiency in reading across the nation is adequate, either.”

Thursday’s report of CATS scores also reveals that only about 38 percent of Kentucky’s 11th-graders are proficient in math, with a similarly low percentage of proficiency in science as well. Even the state’s own CATS reporting documents admit that Kentucky has a long way to go.

But time is running out for many Kentucky students counting on their public schools to provide a quality education that will prepare them for life in our increasingly competitive society.

“Pardon me if I am not impressed with claims of progress after more than 16 years of very expensive education reform,” Innes said. “The colleges and employers around this state cannot continue to cope with the ill-prepared students coming out of our public schools. We have a lot more to do.”

– For interview information, contact Jim Waters, Director of Policy and Communications for the Bluegrass Institute. He can be reached at (270) 782-2140 or jwaters@bipps.org.

The Bluegrass Institute is an independent research and educational institution offering free-market solutions to Kentucky's most pressing problems.

Permission to reprint Perspective commentaries, in whole or in part, is hereby granted, provided the author and his affiliations are cited. Authors are available for interviews by contacting the Institute.

Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions
400 East Main Avenue, Bowling Green, KY 42101

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