FRANKFORT, Ky. – Roughly two out of three Jefferson County students are not proficient or distinguished in reading. About seven out of ten are not proficient or distinguished in math.
Statewide, fewer than half of Kentucky students reached proficient or distinguished in reading at any school level. Math proficiency ranged from just 40 to 43 percent.
Meanwhile, the organizations representing many of Kentucky’s teachers are sitting on more than $22 million in investments and reserves.
Americans for Fair Treatment (AFFT) today released two new Where Do Your Dues Go? investigations examining the Kentucky Education Association (KEA) and Jefferson County Teachers Association (JCTA).
The findings show millions accumulating inside the unions as member benefits and staffing shrink, leadership receives six-figure compensation and political spending flows overwhelmingly in one direction.
KEA: $14.6 Million Invested While Member Benefits Fall
KEA holds $14.6 million in publicly traded securities and ended FY2025 with $19.5 million in total assets.
Since 2018:
- KEA’s workforce fell 40 percent
- Direct member benefits fell 32 percent
- Net assets climbed 198 percent, reaching $12.3 million
At the same time, KEA spent 53 percent of its FY2025 budget on staff compensation and benefits.
Executive Director Mary Ruble received $254,498, roughly 4.6 times the approximately $55,000 average Kentucky public-school teacher salary used in the report.
KEA’s political operation tells another striking story. 96.1 percent of KEPAC political spending went to liberal issue committees or Democratic candidates and party committees.
KEA lobbying disclosures also show $150,000 allocated to receptions and events for legislators in 2026 alone.
JCTA: $7.5 Million Banked as Jefferson County Students Struggle
The numbers in Jefferson County are especially stark.
Only 37 percent of elementary, 35 percent of middle and 34 percent of high school students reached proficient or distinguished in reading.
In math, just 31 percent of elementary, 28 percent of middle and 28 percent of high school students reached those benchmarks.
Meanwhile, JCTA is sitting on $7.5 million in net assets, more than three times everything the union spends in an entire year.
Its reserves have grown 94 percent since 2018, and JCTA added another $401,592 last year.
JCTA also spent:
- $245,300 on travel in one year
- More than $527,000 on travel, stipends, meals and leadership expenses
- $184,468 in compensation for its executive director
Its affiliated political operation, Better Schools Kentucky, has disbursed approximately $4.6 million since 2017. Of its candidate and committee contributions, 99.2 percent went to Democrats.
“Two out of three Jefferson County students are not proficient in reading. About seven out of ten are not proficient in math. Yet the unions representing their teachers are sitting on more than $22 million in investments and reserves,” said AFFT CEO Chip Rogers. “Teachers deserve to ask a very simple question: Why is so much money piling up, and what are they getting in return?”
“These are not school district dollars. But they are millions of dollars collected and managed by organizations that exist to represent educators. Teachers deserve to know where that money is going.”
AFFT’s Where Do Your Dues Go? initiative follows union financial filings, political spending and public records so workers can see for themselves how the organizations representing them collect, spend and accumulate money.
Public employees have a constitutional right to decide whether union membership is right for them. Under the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Janus v. AFSCME, public employees cannot be required to join a union or pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment.