Education leaders want to see adequate funding for Kentucky’s public schools before state and local dollars are divvied up for charter schools.
Education leaders in Boone County are responding to the passage of House Bill 9, the controversial legislation that paves the way for charter school funding. The bill cleared the Senate Tuesday and now awaits a signature or veto from Gov. Andy Beshear. If it becomes law, it could mean less funding for public school districts that already feel strapped for cash due to rising inflation.
With more than 20,000 students, Boone County Schools is the third largest district in the Commonwealth. Superintendent Matthew Turner told LINK nky that he’s not against charter schools, but he is worried officials are turning to charters before addressing the problems at public schools.
“We, unfortunately, have been underfunded for a period of time with what’s in place at the state level. For example, our transportation costs have never been fully funded to the extent they should be,” Turner said. “Our SEEK funding has not been adjusted for inflation over a period of time. There are some other things that have been cut over the years.”
Turner said funding for textbooks, professional development, staff and full-day kindergarten, which was funded for the first time this school year.
SEEK (Support Education Excellence in Kentucky) is the state’s formula for education funding. Funding is largely calculated per pupil and typically accounts for up to half of school district budgets. The other large slice of funding comes from local tax revenue, with a relatively small percentage coming from federal contributions.
When it comes to potentially sharing those tax dollars with charter schools, Turner and Walton-Verona Independent Schools Superintendent Matt Baker worry private boards will use taxpayer money with little oversight.
“My concern is that, you know, we have local boards of education that approve property tax rates for their communities, and sometimes those decisions can be controversial. They certainly are here,” Baker said. “I’m adamantly opposed to anything that takes away local public tax revenue and funnels that money into a for-profit charter school that doesn’t have to follow the same rules that my schools have to follow. They don’t accept all kids. They don’t participate in the accountability system … The results on charter schools are mixed at best, even with the fact that they don’t accept all kids.”
Although no charter schools have been able to open in Kentucky due to a lack of permanent funding, Kentucky Department of Education information suggests that public charter schools must accept all students. The “charter” aspect is an agreement of expectations between the school and state that operates as a level of performance accountability, though not to the same level of elected officials on a public board that public districts have.
Under HB9, a Northern Kentucky University board would offer a degree of oversight, but one of the advertised features of charter schools are fewer constraints.
If school choice is the problem and charter schools aren’t the answer, what is?
Baker said it’s House Bill 563, which passed the legislature last year and “essentially removed district boundaries.”
“In Northern Kentucky, we have a lot of different opportunities, different public school districts, and parochial schools as well as Ignite,” he said. “I would contend that we have more school choice in Northern Kentucky than in any other part of the state.”
When Randy Poe, the Northern Kentucky Education Council executive director, was the Boone County Schools superintendent, he was approached about the Ignite Institute becoming a charter school.
“Ignite is a great example of a school that comes together on the Kenton County and Boone County line and operates through an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) agreement,” Poe said. “We didn’t have to do a charter application. We did an MOU agreement, and we’ve got students from Walton (Walton-Verona Independent), students from Boone County, students from Kenton County, and students from Ludlow (Independent).”
Students from those four participating districts can apply and are approved based on available space, according to Turner. He added there is a waitlist for the school.
Turner contended that the solution, if not public charter schools, is more robust funding for public schools.
“So if you want to make it easier for schools to operate, okay, let’s do it for all schools,” Turner said. “If you’re wanting to create funding for charter schools, let’s fully fund public schools first so that we can be the very best that we can be. I think our school district and many school districts across the state are doing an absolutely outstanding job of that.”