This Is The Worst School District In Kentucky

Louisville KY

24 July, 2021

5:18 PM

Description

By Samuel Stebbins, 24/7 Wall St. - Louisville 2021-07-24 Every child is born to a unique set of circumstances. And it is these different social, familial, economic, environmental, and many other factors, that help shape who they become. While these conditions are countless, a handful of factors play an outsized role in a child's development and likelihood for future success — including academic success. Whether or not a child succeeds academically can depend considerably on school quality. A student who falls behind in one school district might have excelled academically in another. By no means limited to the classroom, many of the strongest influences on a child's future are in the home environment, and the resources available or absent there. Children growing up in financially insecure households face greater hurdles to academic achievement than those in more financially secure environments. In Kentucky's McCreary County School District, the district with the worst conditions in the state, 38.7% of children live below the poverty line, nearly double the 19.2% state child poverty rate. Additionally, children who are raised by college-educated parents or guardians are more likely to succeed in school than those who are not. In the McCreary County district, only 7.2% of adults have a bachelor's degree, less than a third of the statewide share of 23.6%. The four measures used to determine the worst school district in every state are: the child poverty rate, the teacher-to-student ratio, per-pupil spending, and the share of adults with a college education. All data came from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Education Statistics. This is the worst school district in every state. Can't see the article's infographic? Click here to view the original story.This story was originally published by 24/7 Wall St., a news organization that produces real-time business commentary and data-driven reporting for state and local markets across the country.