The state reviewed its DEI programs and found they did not produce the intended results of closing racial achievement gaps.
A new audit of the Kentucky Department of Education reveals the agency wasted money on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that did not produce the intended results.
Earlier this week, Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts Allison Ball (R) released the results of a comprehensive audit of the Kentucky Department of Education’s activities between July 1, 2020, and June 30, 2024. Kentucky reviewed its DEI programs and found they did not produce the intended results of closing racial achievement gaps or matching teacher demographics with that of students.
In July 2020, Kentucky’s Board of Education restated its commitment to “equity” during the summer 2020 Black Lives Matter riots and racial reckoning. Five years later, Kentucky has not meaningfully closed racial achievement gaps and its teaching population does not reflect the demographic makeup of the student body, Ball’s audit says. The audit cites fourth grade reading and eighth grade math proficiency rates based on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress and sorts them by subgroup.
Similarly, the audit cites a 2023 “teacher equity report” showing that the demographic makeup of Kentucky’s teachers is far from reflective of the student body’s diversity, despite Governor Andy Beshear (D) reviving the Kentucky Academy for Equity in Teaching initiative in 2021. The academy was eventually renamed and reoriented to focus on excellence and developing Kentucky’s educator pipeline.
The Kentucky Department of Education developed “equity” initiatives with federal stimulus money under its previous commissioner. In 2021, the agency created the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) division in the Office of Teaching and Learning, and with that came an entire DEI bureaucracy. All of the DEI positions were eliminated in July 2024 when the Covid-19 stimulus funds dried up.
The DEIB division focused on building an “equity toolkit” and performing equity audits. The division also worked on putting inclusion into school curricula and educational standards. The Kentucky Department of Education invested in several “equity” initiatives, including a playbook and a toolkit that no longer exist.
The audit notes Kentucky’s diversity, equity, and inclusion programs did not run afoul of the Trump administration’s current guidance prohibiting federally funded entities from committing racial discrimination to advance DEI.
“Kentucky’s report confirms what many Americans have privately felt for years: DEI programming is a waste of time and money, and has no place in our schools,” said Nicole Neily, president of Defending Education, a conservative-leaning parental rights organization.
“Sadly, students have borne the brunt of these bad decisions, because finite classroom time and resources were diverted away from reading, writing, and arithmetic and used instead to underwrite programs focused on envy, division, and original sin. These programs are clearly counterproductive and should be defunded across the country.”
The audit also describes Kentucky’s rules allowing for secular private schools to receive funding not made available to religious institutions.
Under Kentucky’s administrative regulations for pre-school programs for four-year-olds, secular private schools are allowed to receive state funding but religious ones are not, a rule that violates the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause. It also goes against the Supreme Court’s Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue ruling in 2020 prohibiting state-funded scholarship programs for private schools from discriminating against religious institutions.
To remedy the discrimination, Ball urgently recommended the Kentucky Department of Education terminate or amend the specific sub-regulation whose language appears to violate the Free Exercise Clause.
“Thanks to Auditor Ball’s thorough report, we have confirmation that DEI failed to improve student performance but succeeded in wasting money and hampering academic achievement,” said OJ Oleka, CEO of the right-leaning State Financial Officers Foundation.
“We also know that blatant discrimination was practiced as religious preschools were denied funding specifically because of their religious nature, leaving their resources short and First Amendment rights violated. Kentucky parents are right to be upset and demand much better from the state’s education system.”
Ball’s audit accused the Kentucky Department of Education of improperly handling $250 million from the Support Educational Excellence in Kentucky (SEEK) program, a formula-based allocation of state funds to local school districts.
Those findings were among the many observations laid out in the audit Ball’s office conducted alongside consulting firm PCG Consulting Group, a company specializing in helping public sector agencies improve operations.
The audit does describe the Kentucky Department of Education’s successes, albeit with less rigor than its numerous shortcomings. The Kentucky Department of Education’s new commissioner, Robbie Fletcher, has built relationships with the state legislature in his first year, the audit says.
Additionally, agency staffers have positive morale and perceptions of workload, staff levels, support, and other aspects of office culture. Kentucky’s statewide approach to technology is considered innovative and school superintendents are highly satisfied with the department’s services and support.
“We respect the role of the Auditor’s office and acknowledge that such audits are an important part of ensuring public trust in our institutions. While there are areas of the report where KDE holds a different perspective (see pages 472-556), we believe strongly in listening carefully and using feedback as an opportunity to grow,” Fletcher said in a statement provided to NR.
At the bottom of the report, Kentucky’s Department of Education responded to many of the issues identified in the audit and questioned most of its conclusions. The agency disputed the audit’s determination that it improperly managed SEEK funds, but promised to verify with state agencies its ability to move SEEK funds the next time the issue comes up.
Ball’s 556-page audit gives a detailed examination of the Kentucky Department of Education’s operations, fiscal situation, academic strategies, oversight, student support, diversity policies, and other aspects of the department’s work. For each flaw the audit discovered, Ball’s team provided a recommendation for the agency to fix the issue. She carried out the audit in accordance with a state law passed last year mandating it.
“Kentucky’s children deserve to receive the education they need to be competitive in the real world,” she said in a statement.
“This examination provides a clear path forward for student success, parent accessibility, and teacher support in all of Kentucky’s schools. It can serve as a guiding document for Commissioner Fletcher as he continues his work to improve the state of public education across our Commonwealth.”