Ahead to Goal 1From Measures and Milestones 2002
p. 1-12, published 2002
The Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center joined with the Kentucky Center for Public Issues in 1994 to conduct 15 public forums around the state that invited citizens to engage in a dialogue about the future of their state. About 300 people participated in these forums, sharing the goals they believed were central to a bright future for the Commonwealth.
These hopes and dreams for Kentucky and from Kentuckians were then carefully weighed and distilled into a draft vision statement. In a series of mailings, this draft vision statement was shared with thousands of people around the Commonwealth and with approximately 250 people who attended the Center’s October 3, 1995, conference, Visioning Kentucky’s Future, which was held in Lexington. The general public was also invited to comment and contribute to the final vision statement.
After carefully considering all of the many comments and observations offered by interested individuals from across the state, the following vision statement was developed by the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center and its Board:
We envision a future for the Commonwealth of Kentucky that unites us in common purpose and builds on the strengths of our heritage and our resources. We see vibrant, nurturing communities, lifelong, quality educational opportunities, a sustainable, prosperous economy, a clean, beautiful environment, and honest, participatory government at all levels.
The vision statement developed in response to public expressions of hopes and dreams for the future of the Commonwealth encompassed and implied myriad long-term goals. To help gauge progress and facilitate the realization of the people’s vision of a preferred future, 26 long-term goals were crafted. They are the core ideals which emerged from the Visioning Kentucky’s Future project.
The following 26 long-term goals for the future of the Commonwealth were developed by the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center’s Board of Directors after careful study of similar plans in other states and the strategic plans that had been developed by many public, private, and nonprofit entities in Kentucky. The Board shaped goals appropriate to circumstances in our state and consistent with the citizen goals expressed in the vision statement. The goals are:
GOAL 1: Kentucky communities will be safe and caring places that enable all citizens to lead productive, fulfilling lives.
GOAL 2: Kentucky’s communities and citizens will share responsibility in helping families succeed.
GOAL 3: Kentuckians will have decent, safe, and affordable housing.
GOAL 4: All Kentuckians will have access to affordable, high-quality, and comprehensive health care that stresses the importance of preventive care.
GOAL 5: Kentucky communities will have high levels of trust and civic pride realized from broad citizen participation in their continuous development.
GOAL 6: Kentucky communities will value and respect all individuals regardless of culture, race, ethnic background, religion, or gender.
GOAL 7: Kentuckians will have an education system of lifelong learning that exemplifies excellence.
GOAL 8: Kentuckians will have equal opportunity to obtain an internationally competitive education.
GOAL 9: Kentucky’s children will come to school ready and able to learn.
GOAL 10: Kentucky’s children will have safe, stable learning environments.
GOAL 11: Kentuckians will promote partnerships among parents, schools, and communities to enhance the social and academic development of children.
GOAL 12: Kentuckians will have opportunities to appreciate, participate in, and contribute to the arts and humanities and historic preservation.
GOAL 13: Kentucky will end poverty and alleviate its adverse consequences and debilitating effects.
GOAL 14: Kentucky will have diversified long-term development that stresses competitiveness and a rising standard of living for all citizens while maintaining a quality environment.
GOAL 15: Kentucky will benefit from participation in an integrated global economy.
GOAL 16: Kentucky will maintain and enhance a strong farm economy through diversification, internal networks, and agricultural processing industries.
GOAL 17: Kentucky will develop and enhance its physical infrastructure to support and sustain economic development and a high quality of life.
GOAL 18: Kentucky will develop a state-of-the-art technological infrastructure that complements its learning culture and bolsters its competitive position in the world economy.
GOAL 19: Kentucky will establish a fair, competitive, and responsible fiscal, tax, and regulatory structure.
GOAL 20: Kentucky will create an entrepreneurial economy.
GOAL 21: Kentucky will protect and enhance its environment through the responsible stewardship of its natural resources and the preservation of its scenic beauty.
GOAL 22: Individuals, communities, and businesses will use resources wisely and reduce waste through recycling.
GOAL 23: Kentucky communities will foster and promote a high level of environmental awareness and pollution abatement.
GOAL 24: Government at all levels will be accountable, open, participatory, and responsive to the changing needs of Kentuckians.
GOAL 25: Kentucky will ensure a fair, equitable, and effective system of justice.
GOAL 26: Citizens should continue to broaden their understanding of issues, play a role in the civic life of their communities, and recognize the enduring importance of their participation.
To measure progress toward realization of these 26 goals for the future of the Commonwealth, the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center sought broad input into the development of benchmarks or “indicators of progress.” These indicators of progress help approximate how well the state is doing with respect to the 26 goals. For example, indicators of progress for Goal 1: Kentucky communities will be safe and caring places that enable all citizens to lead productive, fulfilling lives, include measures of how safe people feel in our communities, how the state’s crime rate compares to national rates, and how many neighbors and friends people feel they can rely upon in times of need.
In addition to the indicators, the Center sought to determine how citizens feel about the progress we are making on these 26 goals in a statewide survey. In August 2001, the University of Kentucky Survey Research Center mailed surveys to 3,000 randomly selected Kentucky households. The survey asked citizens for their assessment of whether the state is “making progress,” “losing ground,” or “standing still” on each of the 26 long-term goals.(1) The survey also asked citizens to list, in order of importance, the three goals they think are most important to Kentucky’s future. The full results of this citizen assessment of Kentucky’s progress are presented here.
Do citizens think we are making progress? Generally, citizens who responded to the survey believe that Kentucky is making progress toward most of the goals. Figure 1 shows, for example, that 23 of the goals are in “making progress” territory; in other words, they received a higher percentage of “making progress” votes than “losing ground” votes.(2) Conversely, we are seen as, on balance, “losing ground” in our progress toward three goals.
Figure 1: Where Citizens Think We Stand
In Figure 1, we rank all 26 goals in the order of citizen assessment of overall progress. In this chart, a higher positive number indicates the perception of greater progress. Conversely, the lower the number, the less progress citizens perceive. Negative numbers are possible in this scoring method; these goals are considered to be losing ground. Kentuckians feel the Commonwealth is making its greatest progress towards Goal 12—arts opportunities—along with Goal 21—environmental protection—and Goal 11—partnerships to promote education. For the first time since we started this survey, only three goals fall in the negative or “losing ground” range of the assessment. They are Goal 4—accessible, quality health care, Goal 13—end to poverty and its effects, and Goal 19—fiscal, tax, and regulatory structure.
This increased optimism is further reflected in measures of citizens’ overall opinion regarding the state’s progress toward its vision. The average proportion of respondents indicating that Kentucky is losing ground in each of the 26 goals declined from approximately 25 and 26 percent in survey years 1998 and 2000, respectively, to a low of 19 percent for 2002. This positive shift away from the “losing ground” territory was split between the other two choices, leading to moderate changes in these measures. The average proportion of Kentuckians who feel the state is “standing still” increased from 37 to 38 to 41 percent in 1998, 2000, and 2002, respectively. Finally, on average, approximately 39 percent of Kentuckians see the state as progressing toward all 26 goals in 2002, compared with 36 percent in 2000 and 38 percent in 1998.
As in years past, we asked citizens to list the three goals they consider the most important to Kentucky’s future.(3) In Figure 2, we found that the priorities of Kentuckians changed somewhat in the wake of September 11. In general, those goals addressing more immediately felt issues, such as those regarding family, community, health care, and education, ranked relatively highly. The more distant the issue, such as the global economy or the environment, the lower the importance in the eyes of Kentuckians.
Figure 2: Citizens Rank Goals by Importance
Citizens elevated Goal 1—safe and caring communities—from its position as the third most important goal in 2000 and second in 1998 to the most important goal for the future. Goal 2—responsibility for family success—made its way into the top three for the first time since we began this survey. While citizens cited Goal 4—accessible, quality health care—as the most important goal for the future in 2000, it came in third in 2002, close behind Goal 2.
For the first time, Goal 7—excellent system of lifelong learning—slipped out of the top three to fourth place, perhaps reflecting a waning of urgency as education reforms take hold. Goal 3—decent, safe, affordable housing—moved from sixth to fifth place. As Figure 2 shows, however, the overall ranking of the second through fifth goals, based upon the point system used, shows only marginal differences in the importance assigned to Goals 2, 4, 7, and 3. The least important goals cover an array of topics. Goal 12—arts opportunities—garners the lowest score. The next three least important goals address Kentucky’s participation in a global economy, environmental awareness, and an entrepreneurial economy.
The rankings of each goal based on the importance citizens assign to them and their assessment of how well Kentucky is progressing toward their realization reveals how citizen opinion has changed over the six-year period during which these surveys were conducted. Table 1 presents the results of each survey based on these two criteria. The higher the “importance rank” the greater the importance citizens placed on that goal in that particular year. An increase in the “assessment rank” indicates citizens think Kentucky is making greater progress in achieving the goal. It is interesting to note the relative changes in each ranking. For instance, an increase in both the importance and progress rank indicates that Kentuckians feel we are progressing toward a highly valued goal for the well-being of our state.
Table 1: Rankings by Progress and Importance
Goal 1—safe and caring communities—has increased both in importance and progress like no other goal. It now ranks fifth in progress and first in importance. Goal 10—safe, stable learning environments—has also experienced a marked increase in its progress rank. In 1998 and 2000 this goal ranked 23rd and 20th, respectively. But in the 2002 survey it catapulted up the list to fourth. On a more negative note, changes in survey results show that Kentuckians see little progress toward Goal 3—decent, safe, affordable housing and Goal 5—trust and civic pride, although both are gaining in importance.
Regarding importance and progress, Kentuckians have not wavered much in their opinions on several of the goals over this period. Most notably, Goal 12—arts opportunities—has consistently ranked near the top on our progress scale and at the bottom on our importance scale during all three years. Lastly, the goal that has consistently ranked at or near the top in importance on all three surveys, Goal 4—accessible, quality health care—consistently ranks last in terms of progress.
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The surveys were mailed in August, 2001, and the survey was closed on October 10, 2001. The Center received a total of 773 eligible responses. Return to text.
We gave +1 point to each goal that a respondent felt was “making progress” and -1 point to each goal believed to be “losing ground.” A response of “standing still” received no points. For example, Figure 1 shows Goal 12 with 345 points, more than any other goal. This is the sum of +1 multiplied by 418 “making progress” votes, -1 multiplied by 73 “losing ground” votes, and 0 multiplied by 274 “standing still” votes. Return to text.