What would Amendment 2 actually do?

Kentucky voters face a pivotal ballot measure on Election Day: whether or not to allow legislators to create laws that would provide public funding for non-public education.

Proponents say that passing the amendment would give Kentucky parents and students more choice when deciding where to attend school. Opponents and public education advocacy groups argue that it could lead to laws that would siphon funding from public schools, allowing it to be sent to private schools and prospective charter schools down the road.

What does it do?

Kentucky Constitutional Amendment 2, otherwise titled the Allow State Funding for Non-Public Education Amendment, would add language to the state’s constitution that could enable the General Assembly to provide public funding for non-public education.

If passed, the amendment would add the sentence “the General Assembly may provide financial support for the education of students outside the system of common schools” to the state’s constitution. The term ‘common schools’ refers to public schools.

The amendment would add the sentence to sections 183, 186 and 189 of the state’s constitution. Section 183 tasks the General Assembly with providing “an efficient system of common schools throughout the state.” 

Section 186 states that all accrued school funds shall only go to the maintenance of public schools, 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.

If passed, the amendment eliminates these funding boundaries, giving the Republican supermajority in Kentucky’s General Assembly the power to change the law in future legislative sessions. It does not automatically create or enable a voucher program or fund charter schools. While changing the constitutional language won’t directly lead to any tangible change this year, it would effectively set up the legal environment to do so in the future.

Brigitte Blom, president & CEO of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, corroborated this. She told LINK nky that if approved, bills would likely be presented during the General Assembly’s next legislative session to enable public funding of private schools or publicly funded charter schools.

One possibility is a school voucher program to allow public funding to pay for all or some private school tuition. Another is potential education savings accounts funded by private donors who, in turn, receive a tax credit for their donation.

“What that says to me is we are likely to see a voucher bill in the 2025 legislative session that would allow a family to enroll their student in private education, and the money that was going to public education follow the student directly,” Blom said.

For proponents of the amendment, the decision is often presented through the lens of ‘school choice,’ or the ability for public funds to follow students to the school or learning environment of their choice.

Ultimately, the choice lies in the hands of the parents, who can send their children to private schools or other public or independent school districts by paying a fee to allow their child to attend a district in which they do not reside.

In 2021, the passing of Kentucky House Bill 563 established a nonresident enrollment program that allows all public school districts to adopt nonresident student policies and allows Support Education Excellence in Kentucky, or SEEK, funding to follow enrolled nonresident students without an agreement with the student’s resident district. The law allows districts to charge private tuition to nonresident students.

Rep. Marianne Proctor, R-Union, is in favor of Amendment 2. Her campaign website lists school choice as one issue she is focused on in this upcoming election. Proctor advocates that education should focus on “core skills and academics.”

“Education is not a ‘one size fits all’ system,” said her website.

Kentucky Students First, a pro-amendment 2 nonprofit based in Louisville, argues that passing the amendment would expand educational opportunities for students.

“Kentucky Students First is dedicated to supporting student success through educational choice,” reads the website. “We believe that every child should have access to the education that best suits their needs, which is why we’re supporting Amendment 2 to the Kentucky State Constitution to provide financial support for students in addition to public schools.” 

Other supporters of Amendment 2 include diocesan school districts and other religious or non-religious private schools in the commonwealth that could benefit from the amendment’s passing.

The Diocese of Covington has a dedicated webpage supporting Amendment 2, which claims that Amendment 2 would increase teacher pay and enhance opportunities for low-income, minority and disabled students while simultaneously protecting public schools. 

In August, a volunteer button on the webpage called on individuals to join the diocese in “supporting a transformative update to Kentucky’s Constitution that champions the values we hold dear as Catholics – putting our children’s  education first, empowering parents and supporting our dedicated teachers.”

It should be noted that private schools in Kentucky are concentrated mainly in the populous areas of Louisville, Lexington and Northern Kentucky. Most Kentucky counties do not have private schools; instead, they rely on countywide and independent public school systems.

A report published by EducateNKY, a nonprofit organization focused on new approaches in education in Northern Kentucky, found that nearly 87% of Northern Kentucky school kids attend public schools as of the 2022-2023 school year.

How did we get here?

Public schools in Kentucky are primarily funded using the SEEK formula. The money comes from several sources, including state and local taxes.

Each year, the General Assembly allocates a portion of the General Fund to education, which includes SEEK funding. General Fund revenues come from state income taxes, sales taxes, and corporate taxes.

Essentially, the SEEK funding works on a per-pupil basis and guarantees each student a baseline funding level established through the biennial budget. The most recent budget sets the level at $4,586 per student next year. Over the past decade, SEEK funding amounts have incrementally eroded.

On the local side, the formula requires a minimum local tax contribution for local school districts of 30 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation. Wealthier districts typically generate more local revenue and have higher property valuations than poorer districts. The SEEK formula is designed to equalize this discrepancy. The state provides additional funding to poorer districts to make up the difference.

One argument of the amendment’s opponents is that, if passed, public schools could lose out on some per-pupil funding if it started following students to private schools or publicly funded charter schools.

Currently, Kentucky has no charter schools in operation and charter schools that did open here could not receive public funding. During Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration, Kentucky Republicans set out to change this.

In 2017, the General Assembly approved legislation signed into law by then-Gov. Bevin that would allow charter schools to begin operating in the state starting in the fall of that year. However, that legislation did not include a funding mechanism for charter schools, and none were established.

In 2021, the General Assembly passed legislation that allowed funds to be transferred from local school boards to charter schools, effectively acting as a funding mechanism for prospective charter schools. Gov. Andy Beshear initially vetoed the bill, but the General Assembly overrode him.

One year later, Franklin County Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd struck down the law, arguing that it violated the state’s constitution.

“This charter school legislation is effectively an attempt to bypass the system of common schools, and establish a separate class of publicly funded but privately controlled schools that have unique autonomy in management and operation of schools,” Shepherd ruled. “This ‘separate and unequal’ system of charter schools is inconsistent with the constitutional requirements for a common school system.”

Since the law was ruled unconstitutional, charter school supporters looked for another way. Enter Kentucky Constitutional Amendment 2 which, if passed, would eliminate the ‘unconstitutional’ legal challenge.

Surrounding states

As of now, 46 U.S. states allow charter schools, 20 with voucher programs and 25 with enacted tax credit programs, according to Ballotopedia.

While Kentucky does not have an established charter school, voucher programs, or enacted tax credit programs, some of the Bluegrass state’s neighbors do. These state’s programs could serve as potential models for Kentucky if Amendment 2 were to pass.

Ohio, for example, has its own school voucher program called the EdChoice Scholarship. Vouchers are government-funded scholarships allowing public school students to attend private schools. Vouchers redirect per-pupil education funding, putting it in the hands of students’ families rather than the district.

The EdChoice Scholarship allows students entering kindergarten through 12th grade scholarship opportunities based on their household income level. For kindergarten through 8th grade students, the scholarship amount is $6,166. It’s $8,408 for students in grades 9 through 12.

To qualify for an EdChoice Scholarship, students must verify their family’s income. Students from households in lower income brackets can receive more, while students from higher income brackets can receive a reduced amount.

Indiana also has a school voucher program called the Choice Scholarship Program. Indiana vouchers are worth up to 90% of the state’s per-pupil spending. In contrast to Ohio, students’ families have fewer income requirements. In 2023, the Indiana General Assembly passed a law that slashed most income requirements, allowing students from households earning more than $150,000 to qualify.

On the other hand, Tennessee has an Education Savings Account Program. These programs allow families to receive public funds and deposit them into government-authorized private savings accounts to be used strictly for educational expenses like private school tuition, tutoring, curriculum, and school supplies. 

Students from Memphis-Shelby County Schools, Metro Nashville Public Schools and Hamilton County Schools – some of the largest public school districts in the state – are the primary beneficiaries of ESAs, according to the Tennessee Department of Education.

A Prichard Committee White Paper published earlier this year studied how other states’ school voucher programs have fared since their inception. For instance, in Florida, newly eligible higher-income families comprise over half of the enrollees in the program. In Indiana, 98% of vouchers go to religious schools.

“If it passes, there’s a big price tag to the state on the other side, and we’re not seeing from our research of education outcomes across the board in school choice strategies, commensurate improvements in education outcomes that provide a return on investment for those significant expenditures,” she said.

On the other end of the spectrum, EdChoice Kentucky, a nonprofit in favor of school choice legislation, published a report that found nonpublic schooling reduces public education costs in Kentucky by “billions of dollars every year,” with roughly $391.7 million in state SEEK cost savings alone during the 2021-2022 school year. However, the report did not mention the potential costs that public schools or the state could bear if public funds go to private education in the future. 

This article features reporting by LINK nky’s Rebecca Hanchett.