Northern Kentuckian Cathy Volter supports Kentucky’s public school system.
She made that clear last week on LINK nky’s Facebook page when LINK asked readers to comment on whether or not Kentucky needs the school choice amendment that will be on the ballot this fall.
Amendment 2 is the ballot measure. If approved by voters, it would allow state lawmakers to provide public funding for K-12 education outside of public schools or “common schools” system. Right now, all seven states surrounding Kentucky — and dozens more — have private school choice programs (with some degree of public funding), while Kentucky does not.
“Does anyone think that a charter/private school will ‘accept’ and provide service to a student with learning disabilities, behavioral disabilities, lacks motivation to learn, acts out constantly in class, attends school irregularly, is in the foster child system or is homeless?” Volter wrote. “Our current public school system accepts and provides exceptional service to all these students in these situations. The system of charter/private schools is discriminatory towards those who have difficult and exceptional needs, thus making education a classist system.”
Volter’s remarks were among 55 reader comments in the LINK thread. Some commenters oppose the amendment, and some don’t. Among those who do not is reader Timothy Mc, who voiced support for charter schools.
“You think they’re discriminatory because you’ve been told that,” Mc replied to Volter, later posting, “Charter schools are great and often out-perform other public schools while doing it at a fraction of the cost.”
Also voicing support for charters on the LINK post was Diane Howard, who wrote, “Charter schools would provide much needed alternatives especially for children in poor performing public schools.”
Charter schools are legal in Kentucky, although there currently are none. A state court has ruled that funding charter schools with public money is unconstitutional. That case has been appealed. Also ruled unconstitutional (this time by the Kentucky Supreme Court) are tax credits for private school tuition authorized by state lawmakers with the passage of 2021 House Bill 563.
Should Amendment 2 pass, it would potentially open up public funding for charter schools and more, however. How that would work would be up to the Kentucky General Assembly, which voted this year to put the amendment on the ballot.
What would Amendment 2 do?
If it passes, Amendment 2 would change the state constitution to read like this:
“The General Assembly may provide financial support for the education of students outside the system of common schools.”
Nowhere in that wording is there any mention of charter schools. Instead, the amendment is written broadly to give state lawmakers considerable leeway in how public funding is used, either for non-public schools or public charters – typically defined as public schools run outside of the state school system. Funding for charter schools is a potential option. Other potential options are publicly-funded vouchers for private school tuition, tax credits for private school tuition donors and more.
Voters will see this question when they go to cast their ballot for or against Amendment 2:
“To give parents choices in educational opportunities for their children, are you in favor of enabling the General Assembly to provide financial support for the education costs of students in kindergarten through 12th grade who are outside the system of common (public) schools by amending the Constitution of Kentucky as stated below?” followed by the amendment language.
A yes vote would allow state lawmakers to pass legislation providing public funding for non-public schools, while a no vote would prevent it.
Who is working for or against the amendment?
A statewide effort to defeat Amendment 2 is being led by Protect Our Schools KY, an organization that describes itself as a “coalition of public education advocates and allied organizations committee to defeat a harmful constitutional amendment” it calls the “Voucher Amendment.”
The group is scheduled to hold its NKY Campaign Kickoff at Newport High School, 900 E. 6th Street in Newport from 6-7 p.m. Thursday, June 20. Helping to organize the campaign is Blue Dot Consulting, a Louisville-based firm that has worked on numerous political campaigns, including that of former U.S. Senate Democratic candidate Charles Booker.
“Our Kentucky Constitution is the only thing protecting Kentucky families from these voucher schemes. We must do everything we can to safeguard our public schools and that means voting NO on Amendment 2,” according to the Protect Our Schools KY website.
On the other side of the issue is Frankfort-based EdChoice Kentucky. That organization is led by board chair and CEO Charles Leis, a retired business executive who was honored by the Catholic bishops of Kentucky in 2021 for helping to pass HB 563 into law that year. The EdChoice Kentucky board also includes NKY parochial school leader Elizabeth B. Ruehlmann, the director of development for Catholic schools with the Diocese of Covington.
EdChoice Kentucky’s website says Amendment 2 is needed “to help an entire generation of Kentucky students succeed,” adding, “Every child is unique, and all children learn differently. Some children might succeed at their assigned public school, while others might fit in better in a different environment. That’s why educational choice is so important.”
Will Amendment 2 take money away from public schools? Depends on who you ask
Public money for private education is a main sticking point for many of those who opposed Amendment 2 on the LINK Facebook page last week. “I’m against public tax dollars going to any private schools,” wrote reader Alex Breyer.
“Public dollars should stay with public schools. They take ALL children. Private and charter schools do not do this,” said Jenna Van Laningham, another reader.
EdChoice Kentucky doesn’t appear to see a problem. Its website cites an increase in K-12 public education funding in Kentucky in recent years (including increases in funding for school transportation and per pupil funding in the next budget cycle) to make its case.
“Would the Constitutional Amendment ‘defund’ public schools? No,” the website said. “The Constitutional Amendment would simply allow the General Assembly to pass a separate program supporting students in nonpublic schools.”
In a phone call Wednesday, Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer (R-Georgetown) told LINK the argument that Amendment 2 would potentially take funding away from public schools is “specious.” He then went further, calling the argument “a scare tactic by defenders of the status quo.”
“If you look at the recent record of the General Assembly since Republicans took control of both chambers (in 2016) we’ve been funding public schools at record levels including this year where we included back-to-back increases in the school funding formula,” Thayer told LINK. “I don’t see the General Assembly taking money away from public schools – as a matter of fact I see it continuing to increase.”
Protect Our Schools KY questioned that support on its website. It called Amendment 2 “another attempt to attack public education and undermine the backbone of our communities – our public schools,” its website says, again with a focus on vouchers. To that end, the organization says, the amendment would “mostly subsidize existing private school students.”
LINK reader Alanna Blum also had questions about funding when she responded to the LINK post on Amendment 2 last week. Blum specifically questioned how Kentucky’s phase-out of its individual income tax impact school funding.
“The biggest question I have is …. Where is the money coming from? If KY lawmakers still plan to sunset state income tax, it simply doesn’t sound like a fiscally responsible decision,” Blum said.
The state did not meet requirements for further reduction of the tax in 2025, although its 2022 plan to eventually phase out the tax remains in place.