Supporters of Amendment 2 reinforced their campaign message during a small gathering Friday morning at Burlington Commons, saying it comes down to one word: “choice.”
“The right of individual conscience, the right of an efficient school system, they can be reconciled if we pass Amendment Two,” said State Sen. Gex Williams, a Republican from Verona.
Williams was among a handful of Northern Kentucky’s legislative caucus members who called a news conference encouraging voters to support Amendment 2 when they go to the polls. It was at least the second gathering in Burlington this month in support of the measure. Williams called Friday morning’s event alongside his Republican colleagues, State Sen. Shelley Funke Frommeyer and State Sen. John Schickel.
Williams’ support of the amendment – which asks voters if “the General Assembly may provide financial support for the education of students outside the system of common [i.e. public] schools” – boils down to his belief that families’ education options should be as diverse as the student population.
Aside from students’ different learning styles, “everybody has a slightly different view of what we should do in the world,” he said. “We should not be compelling someone into one conscience.”
Schickel said it also comes down to marketplace competition.
“When has competition ever hurt anything?” he said. “Competition will be good for all our students.”
One of the most contentious issues facing Kentucky voters this election cycle, the measure would remove a barrier currently established in the commonwealth’s constitution that prohibits any public funding from going to privately operated school systems. Gov. Andy Beshear, Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman and multiple Northern Kentucky public school superintendents have voiced opposition to the measure, saying it would siphon resources from public school districts and would mark the General Assembly’s first step toward instituting something like a voucher program or charter school districts.
“Amendment 2 is not about school choice,” said Walton-Verona Independent Public Schools Superintendent Matt Baker earlier this month. “Amendment 2 is about vouchers, and vouchers siphon money from public schools.”
Vouchers refer to government-issued certificates families can redeem with private schools. Other states’ voucher programs have meant moving tax funding that would typically go to a local public school into the private institution the family’s student attends. While Amendment 2 doesn’t go as far as establishing a specific statutory method for providing private schools with public financial assistance, it would pave the way for the General Assembly to do so in the future without facing legal challenges.
Williams called the concern that the ballot measure would take money away from public schools “specious.”
“Most of the money [for public schools] is local property tax that’s going to stay with the local public school,” he told LINK after the news conference, saying instead public funding for private school districts would come in the form of tax credits, something the Kentucky Supreme Court recently ruled unconstitutional, saying a tax credit constitutes a form of appropriation. Amendment 2, in effect, would overturn that decision.
“There’s a lot of wealthy people out there, and a number of them need tax credits, and they’re going to find tax credits,” Williams said. “What we’re trying to do is attract more of that money into education as a whole. (The Kentucky Supreme Court ruling) was a bad decision, and that’s why we have to have Amendment Two to overcome this thing.”
It’s not just money from private investors Kentucky could be losing, Frommeyer said; the commonwealth is missing out on federal funding opportunities, as well.
“Our Congress has allocated over half-a-billion dollars to innovate with charter schools,” she said. “How much did Kentucky get, you ask? Zero.”
While supporters argue fostering charter schools in Kentucky would encourage innovation and provide more opportunities for both students and teachers, those opposed say – beyond draining public districts of resources – the measure could leave behind certain student populations, such as English Language Learners, students with disabilities and students on IEPs, because private institutions have more latitude than public schools when choosing which students to enroll.
Early voting in Kentucky began Oct. 31 and runs through the weekend. Election Day is Tuesday Nov. 5.
Previous reporting by Nathan Granger and Kenton Hornbeck contributed to this story.