The following op-ed is written by State Rep. Buddy Wheatley (D-Covington)
Unless minds can be changed, the Kentucky General Assembly will likely vote to override Governor Beshear’s veto of HB 9 – the charter school bill – in the next couple of days.
HB 9 is 80 pages long, with special legislation that specifically targets Kenton County, and does so with such convoluted word-twisting that I’m afraid almost no one sees it coming. Not only does the legislation set up a framework to siphon your tax dollars out of the public schools and into a for-profit “urban academy”, the bill violates section 59 of Kentucky’s state constitution, which expressly prohibits special legislation that targets a county.
HB 9 is just that – special legislation that goes to great lengths to force a public charter school into Northern Kentucky, most likely into Beechwood, Covington, Erlanger-Elsmere or Ludlow school districts.
Part of the bill is dubbed a pilot program, but some “special” parts are not. The language targeting Kenton County’s independent school districts, peppered throughout HB 9, is permanent.
Beechwood, Covington, Erlanger-Elsmere and Ludlow independent school districts have got to be wondering what the heck is going on. Are they being discriminated against?
Every school district in Kentucky with less than 7,500 enrolled students is given veto power over a charter school coming to their respective districts, but these Kenton County schools districts are not. That’s permanent, and clearly denies Beechwood, Covington, Erlanger-Elsmere and Ludlow independent public schools the same rights granted to all other Kentucky school districts with fewer than 7,500 students.
Across the Licking River, Newport, Bellevue, Dayton, Fort Thomas, and Southgate Independent Schools will have rights to veto any public charter school taking root in their respective districts. Not so in Kenton County.
Why this legislation singles out Kenton County’s independent public schools is anyone’s guess.
Kenton County is treated “special” again in HB 9 where it gives Campbell County authority to make decisions on how a charter school is set up in one of the independent districts in Kenton County. Yes, the bill sets up an 18-member “collective” board (ten Campbell County members, eight Kenton County members) to establish a charter school by July 1, 2024 in any of the nine independent school districts. But remember, all of Campbell County’s five independent school districts can turn away a charter school in their respective districts; Beechwood, Covington, Erlanger-Elsmere and Ludlow cannot.
If anyone thinks the majority Campbell County “collective” authorizing board of elected independent school district board members is going to authorize a charter school in one of their respective districts, you probably are as confused as the legislators getting ready to make this a reality.
Given HB 9’s July 1, 2024 deadline for setting up a charter school in Northern Kentucky, it won’t be long before a for-profit “urban academy” charter school will likely be wedged into an already crowded educational array of schools in Kenton County. Not only is Northern Kentucky blessed
to have many excellent public school options, our precious students have great options where they flourish in the state’s best parochial and private schools already in Kenton and Campbell counties.
The good news– there’s still time. Kentucky’s General Assembly meets Wednesday, April 13 and Thursday, April 14 to consider overrides of Governor Andy Beshear’s vetoes. Gov. Beshear vetoed HB 9 specifically because it is unconstitutional special legislation, but also because public charter schools defund our existing public schools.
Make no mistake, this “urban academy” is coming whether we like it or not, unless you can convince your state legislators to NOT override the vetoed HB 9.