State earns a D

Editorials

Discussion

September 22, 2009

Kentucky ranks near bottom in too many important areas

Anonymous The Daily Independent Tue Sep 22, 2009, 07:34 PM EDT

The Corporation for Enterprise Development — a privately funded nonprofit entity — has given Kentucky a D for efforts to help families secure financial security. Lest one think the rating too harsh, consider the following statistics cited by the CFED:

-- Kentucky families continue to struggle to make ends meet. The state ranks 48th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia for family income poverty and 43rd in bankruptcy.

-- The low education level of Kentucky adults hampers the state’s efforts to improve household income. The state ranks 43rd in the percentage of adults without a high school diploma or its equivalent, 49th in the percentage of adults with two-year college degrees, and 47th in the percentage of adults with four-year college degrees.

As this newspaper has said many times, we are convinced that the overall low level of education among Kentucky adults is this state’s biggest obstacle to economic development — and it is an obstacle only the people of Kentucky can eliminate by putting a priority on education.

-- While successful small businesses are critical to this state’s economic health, Kentucky ranks 50th in the number of loans to small businesses. Many owners of small businesses are women, but Kentucky ranks 45th among the 50 states and the District of Columbus in the businesses owned by women.

‰ While the CFED’s Scorecard found housing to be more affordable in Kentucky than most other states, it still ranked the state 44th in home ownership by gender and 41st in home ownership by race.

While the Scorecard does credit Kentucky for making significant progress in supporting the financial well-being of families, it must improve funding for education on all levels, with an emphasis on lowering the cost of attending college. If it fails to do that, the state will continue to lag behind most other states in the percentage of adults with college degrees.

The latest Scorecard tells us little that we did not already know. It is just another reminder of just how much we have to do to just catch up with the rest of the nation.

Text Only

Editorials

Earmarks again?
Immediately, following the midterm elections of 2010 which saw Republicans regain control of the House of Representatives and capture seats in the U.S. Senate, Republican leaders in Congress announced they had heard the voice of the voters and vowed to cease using “earmarks,” the name given to appropriations slipped into bills by influential legislators without a vote.

May 26, 2012
Best in the nation
It may surprise many readers that Newsweek’s “best high school in America” is located right here in Kentucky and is open to selected students throughout the state, but then the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green is hardly your typical high school. In fact, it would be impossible for even the best public high schools to emulate the amazing success of students at the Gatton Academy.

May 25, 2012
After the vote
We offer today a few reflections on the messages voters sent in Tuesday’s primary election in Kentucky.

May 24, 2012
A mild winter
As we approach the Memorial Day weekend, long hailed as the unofficial start of the summer vacation season, we pause to reflect upon the winter that wasn’t.

May 23, 2012
Devices banned
Emergency breathing devices that tests have proven unreliable are being phased out under a directive issued by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. However, MSHA has given mine operators more than 18 months to remove all the air packs from underground mines.

May 22, 2012
A free weekend
In an effort to promote increased recreational use of the two lakes in the Daniel Boone National Forest, the U.S. Forest Service will offer free fishing and boating during the first weekend in June.

May 22, 2012
Ho-hum election
Psst! Want to know a secret? There’s a primary election Tuesday. And it’s right here in Kentucky! However, there has been so little interest in this election, that Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, the state’s top election official, is predicting that only betwixen 10 and 12 percent of the state’s eligible voters will take the time to go to the polls tomorrow.

May 21, 2012
A real rush job
By giving first reading approval to two identical ordinances creating the Northeast Regional Jail Authority, elected leaders in Boyd and Carter counties are reviving a 30-year-old political issue — only this time with different results.

May 20, 2012
KCTC leads way
The ability of Kentucky to compete with other states and the rest of the world for the good jobs of tomorrow keeps improving by degrees.

May 19, 2012
Slow decline?
Louisville’s Churchill Downs is seeing its shortest spring meets since 1975, and some owners, trainers and breeders fear they could get even shorter. That is unless the Kentucky General Assembly has a change of heart and gives the home of the Kentucky Derby the option of increasing its nonracing revenue by offering new forms of gambling.

May 18, 2012
More Editorials Headlines

Editorials

Search Results

Discussion

State earns a D

Kentucky ranks near bottom in too many important areas

Site Map

Contact Us