Kentucky voters on Tuesday rejected Amendment 2, a constitutional amendment that would have allowed public money to fund private schools.
As a region, Northern Kentucky collectively rejected Amendment 2 with Boone, Kenton, and Campbell counties all voting against it.
The amendment, also titled the Allow State Funding for Non-Public Education Amendment, was hotly debated leading up to the election. The policy proposal divided the electorate along partisan lines, garnering heavy support from Republican lawmakers, activists and influencers. Statewide Democrats and teachers unions largely opposed the amendment.
Brigitte Blom, president & CEO of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, told LINK nky the vote was an expression of faith in the state’s public education system.
“Kentucky voters have expressed their strong preference to invest deeply in public education as the great equalizer and public good in the state,” she said.
On the other end, Kentucky Students First, a pro-Amendment 2 nonprofit organization, released a statement to the media expressing their disappointment regarding the results.
“Our coalition of parents, educators, and concerned Kentuckians fought hard to change the status quo protected by Kentucky’s education special interests,” read the statement. “Though the results may not have been in our favor, this campaign has been a powerful force for standing up to the Kentucky education bureaucracy.”
If it had passed, the amendment would have added the sentence “the General Assembly may provide financial support for the education of students outside the system of common schools” to the state constitution. The term ‘common schools’ refers to public schools.
Three sections of the state constitution govern public education spending. Section 183 tasks the General Assembly with providing “an efficient system of common schools throughout the state.” Section 186 outlines how the public school system shall accrue funding, while section 189 effectively prevents public funds or taxes from being appropriated to, used by, or in aid of any church, sectarian, or denominational school.
Essentially, the amendment would have eliminated these funding boundaries, giving the Republican supermajority in Kentucky’s General Assembly the power to change the law in future legislative sessions.
However, Amendment 2 would not have automatically created or enabled a voucher program or funded charter schools. While changing the constitutional language wouldn’t have directly lead to any tangible change this year, it would effectively have set up the legal environment to do so in the future.
Proponents argued that its passing would allow Kentucky parents and students to use public funds to send their children to the school or learning environment of their choice. High-profile Republicans and other school-choice advocates and activists endorsed Amendment 2, including Sen. Rand Paul and his spouse Kelly and former Attorney General Daniel Cameron.
Additionally, diocesan school districts and other religious and non-religious private schools predominately backed the amendment. Many Northern Kentucky Catholic schools governed by the Diocese of Covington had signs put up in front of several school buildings encouraging onlookers to vote in favor of Amendment 2.
The Diocese of Covington had a dedicated webpage in support of Amendment 2, with the site claiming that passing the amendment would help increase teacher pay and enhance opportunities for low-income, minority and disabled students while simultaneously protecting public schools.
Conversely, opponents and other public education advocacy groups argued that its passing could lead to laws siphoning funding from public schools, allowing it to be sent to private schools and prospective charter schools in the years following. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, a former public school teacher, came out against Amendment 2.
During a rally held on October 31 in Lexington, Beshear argued that Amendment 2 would authorize Republicans in the state’s legislature a “blank check” to move public money away from public schools, reported the Kentucky Lantern.
The vast majority of Kentucky’s private schools are concentrated in its three largest population centers: Northern Kentucky, Lexington, and Louisville. Furthermore, most Kentucky counties rely on public school systems which are oftentimes the largest employers in those counties. Opponents of Amendment 2 argued it would disproportionately benefit parents and students living in large population centers.
Gallatin, Grant and Pendleton counties — three rural counties that are frequently included in the broader Northern Kentucky region — all voted against Amendment 2.
