Top Issues
- Race and Gender Ideology in Schools Jefferson County Public Schools Promotes Material Pushing Young Children to Choose Their Gender Identity, Provides Resources to Disrupt 'The Western-Prescribed Nuclear Family Structure'
- Fayette Schools Assignment to Fifth Graders Upsets Kentucky Law Enforcement Group and Parents
- Shelby County Public Schools seventh grade English teacher has students write about LGBTQ issues and racial poltiics
State Board of Education
Who's on your board of education?
The board of education consists of 11 voting and four nonvoting members, including one student and one teacher. The members are appointed by the governor, confirmed by the state senate, and serve four year terms.
When's the next election/appointment?
Terms for two ex-officio members will expire in 2023. Seven seats, for districts one through seven, will be up in 2024.
When's the next curriculum update?
Pursuant to Senate Bill 175, passed in 2019, the Kentucky Department of Education implemented an Academic Standards Review Process. Every year, the department will review one or two content areas, and each subject will be reviewed once every six years. Read more about the Academic Standards Review Timeline on this document.
The Kentucky
Department of Education
“The Department of Education is a service agency of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The department provides resources and guidance to Kentucky’s public schools and districts as they implement the state’s K-12 education requirements.”
How did your district perform during the 2021-2022 school year? Find your school report card here.
The Kentucky
Legislature
Use this tool to find your state representative or senator.
Just like Congress, the Kentucky General Assembly is split into a House and a Senate. You can find your House Education Committee members here, and your Senate Education Committee members here. These committees conduct hearings, review, and amend bills proposed by a member of their legislative chamber. They also review bills after they have been passed by the other chamber of legislature. Remember, both chambers must pass a bill before it goes to the governor’s desk for a signature or a veto.
Recent Education Laws
- Parental Rights Kentucky has a Republican-led General Assembly and a Democratic governor. When two branches of government are led by different parties, this often makes it challenging to pass laws. Even if a bill passes both chambers of the state legislature, the governor can still veto the bill. As of 2023, Republicans in the Kentucky legislature hold a “veto proof” majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Even if the governor vetos a bill, Republicans can override that majority with a two-third majority vote in both chambers. This is how Kentucky lawmakers passed Senate Bill 150 in 2023. This bill ensures that parents have access to their children’s health and medical information at school. It also protects the speech rights of school employees; schools may not compel teachers and faculty to use a student’s preferred name and pronouns. Additional elements of the bill address sex change procedures for minors.
- Banning Discrimination and Establishing Requirements for Civics Education Kentucky legislators passed two other education-related bills by overriding the governor’s veto in 2022. Senate Bill 1, passed in April 2022, bans sex or race-based discrimination and outlines certain requirements for civics education in Kentucky.
- Women's Sports Senate Bill 83 amended an existing state law to, among other things, separate sports by sex for middle and high school students and protect schools from being investigated for separating sports by sex. The law also establishes that, in the context of public schools, a student’s sex is determined by his or her “original, unedited birth certificate” or by a doctor or nurse who can attest to the student’s biological sex. PDE Action is a nonpartisan organization and does not endorse members of one political party. Parental rights, transparency, and removing politics from the classroom is our top priority, and we support anyone who joins us in this effort.
School Boards
Fayette County Public Schools is holding a school board election in 2023. Ballotpedia tracks school board races in the largest 400 cities across the country. You can read more about Kentucky’s 2023 school board races on this Ballotpedia page.
You can find out more about your school district’s school board, and when their next election will occur, on the school district’s website or on your county website.