Support Education Excellence in Kentucky (SEEK): Impact on Student Outcomes

This paper examines Kentucky's school-finance formula and student outcomes as related to the implementation of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) of 1990. The report provides background information on KERA and describes the creation of the Support Education Excellence in Kentucky (SEEK) funding mechanism, a three-tiered system composed of three distinct but closely related components. The paper focuses on the effects of centralization on SEEK. It looks at past funding strategies for education and provides a review of educational literature on school finance and the relationship of funding to student achievement. It offers a review of school-finance litigation and concludes that the effect of variables on indicators of student achievement produces a largely inconsistent finding. Included in the report are the results of a study in which data from public records for 176 local districts were gathered from the Kentucky School Board Association. The study asked such questions as: To what extent do selected financial characteristics contribute to student performance at the school-district level? Findings show that only one of the three selected financial characteristics influenced the district-level score. Comparisons of district expenditures indicate that significant revenue and spending gaps among Kentucky's 176 school districts still exist. (Contains 30 references.) (RJM)