Kentucky students produce complex poetry and essays as early as the fourth grade.
But the people who teach those students are required to be no more than C-plus students in college and only minimally competent when they graduate. The 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act required that Kentucky students would learn at high levels. But that KERA requirement did not extend to teachers. Once on the job, teachers never again have to take a test to prove they know their subjects. State education policy-makers recognize that the quality of Kentucky's teachers needs to improve.