Published: September 22, 2009 07:31 pm      

State earns a D

Kentucky ranks near bottom in too many important areas

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.