In a late-session revision to a school funding bill, Kentucky House lawmakers want to limit state dollars for English language learning services to four years per child.
The current school funding formula, known as SEEK, allots extra funding to districts for services needed by students with disabilities, low-income students and students who are working to master the English language, also known as multilingual learners.
Under federal law, public schools cannot discriminate against students based on national origin. Courts have decided that means school districts must provide English-language services to multilingual learners so that students can access education regardless of their national origin or the national origin of their families.
New changes to Senate Bill 6, passed by the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee Thursday morning, would cut off the extra SEEK funding for a multilingual learner after a maximum of four years. Districts use add-on funds to help pay for teachers with special training in English language acquisition. Those teachers track the progress of individual students towards English proficiency, assist them in classes, co-teach with classroom teachers, or pull students out for small groups and one-on-one sessions.
In the 2024-2025 school year, the General Assembly allocated $18.6 million in add-ons statewide for multilingual learners, according to calculations from the Kentucky Department of Education. Lawmakers did not provide an estimate of how much their proposal would reduce expenditures or give a rationale for the change.
Jefferson County Public Schools, with nearly 20,000 multilingual learners, received $7.4 million in SEEK add-ons for multilingual learners last school year. JCPS spokesperson Carolyn Callahan said the district estimated the proposal would cut its funding by roughly $2.2 million.
“This could have an impact on staffing allocations and could increase caseloads for teachers. It could also impact the additional staff that support the increased needs of [multilingual learners]. For example, trauma and family outreach needs, etc.,” Callahan wrote in an email.
She cited research showing it takes most multilingual learners four to seven years to reach proficiency in English.
“Students might take more than four years, so we wouldn’t be able to have extra support for that,” Democratic Rep. Tina Bojanowski of Louisville told Kentucky Public Radio.
If lawmakers move forward with the proposal, Kentucky would join a handful of states that put a time limit on multilingual funding, including Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota.
The measure is scheduled for a vote on the House floor Friday. The state Senate would have to give its concurrence before the end of the day Friday in order to make the measure veto-proof.
Colorado and Iowa give students up to five years, Minnesota allows seven years and North Dakota allows three, according to a 2021 policy brief from EdBuild.
A spokesperson for the Kentucky Department of Education did not respond to a request for comment.
The change in multilingual funding was added to a bill that aims to recharacterize how SEEK funds are presented to the public by including all health insurance costs and pension payments the state spends on school personnel. Since the creation of the SEEK formula, the per-pupil amount has not reflected the full cost of fringe benefits.
“That is an education-related expense,” bill sponsor, Republican Sen. David Givens of Greensburg told a state Senate committee.
Democratic opponents called the measure misleading.
Democratic Sen. Gerald Neal of Louisville noted that state education funding levels have declined by 26% since 2008 relative to inflation.
“It’s almost like a hat-trick for some, to use these things to not deal with the very fundamental question — and that is: Are we adequately funding our education system in Kentucky?” Neal told the committee.
Some students say the answer is no. In January a group of Kentucky students filed a lawsuit against lawmakers, calling state funding levels for education “constitutionally deficient.”
Sylvia Goodman contributed to this report.
