Bluegrass Times

Of the 687,294 students enrolled in Kentucky schools during the 2022-23 school year, 10.9% identified as African American, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

This equals 74,745 African American students at the time, which is an increase over the year before.

Statewide, white students made up the most represented ethnic group within public schools, representing 72.4% of the student body.

Despite escaping some of the pandemic's educational disruptions, Kentucky's achievement gaps have remained an issue since 2019. In the eighth-grade reading assessments, for example, Hispanic students scored eight points lower than their white peers, and the gap reached 15 points in math. Black students fared even worse, falling more than 20 points behind and facing a failure rate nearly double that of their white counterparts.

Data also shows that between 2019 and 2023, there was an increase of 260% in the number of available teaching posts in Kentucky schools. This often leads to larger class sizes, combining programs, and retaining staff despite potential negative impacts on teacher working conditions.

Year	Total Enrollment	Total African American Students	African American %
2021-22	685,401	73,996	10.8%
2022-23	687,294	74,745	10.9%
2020-21	682,953	73,275	10.7%
2019-20	698,388	74,491	10.7%