Imagine you are sick and need to go to the doctor. After some preliminary online research, you decide it makes the most sense to see a specialist. You call the specialist’s office to make an appointment and are shocked when they tell you they can’t treat you. The reason? You aren’t zoned to that doctor’s office. To ensure that everyone can have access to quality health care, the government has decided it is best for everyone to be assigned to a doctor based on where they live.
This sounds crazy, right? Everyone should be able to access the doctors and clinics they want based on their specific medical needs. Unfortunately, students across Kentucky face a similar situation when it comes to their education.
Currently, students in Kentucky are zoned to a public school based on where they live. If the school they are zoned to does not meet their needs, the options are limited to their parents being able to afford private schooling or moving to a different school district. The school system is built to protect the system first and meet the needs of students second.
Amendment 2, on the ballot in November, would change that.
Amendment 2 aims to provide student-focused options when it comes to their education. It would remove the top-down, one-size-fits-all government control that dictates Kentucky’s education system today and give parents and students the freedom and flexibility to choose the school that best fits their unique needs.
The opposition to this measure comes from a place of concern, but it’s misplaced. In an op-ed published last week, Kristy Collins wrote, “Public schools strive to provide quality education and support services to all students and their families.” “Strive” is the key word here, as trying isn’t the same as succeeding. Expecting a single school to be able to provide a quality education and support services to every single child based on individual needs is a recipe for failure. Public schools have done – and continue to do – a good job for many students. They are often the top education choice for many families. But the education system should include an “all of the above” approach to learning that is primarily focused on what the child needs to succeed.
Amendment 2 will not harm public schools; it will simply pave the way for additional education options without limiting choice to only those families with enough resources. Collins noted in her piece, “Parents already have the freedom to choose whether to send their students to a private school.”
While that’s not incorrect, it’s also not actual freedom.
Parents can send their children to a private school if they can muster up the resources to do so – or relocate their entire family to a different neighborhood so they can be zoned to a different school. Lower income families are stuck with the school they are zoned for. It very well may be a great school, but these children’s unique needs aren’t necessarily being met.
Section 183 of the Kentucky Constitution contains a directive for the General Assembly to “provide an efficient system of common schools throughout the State.” Not only does Kentucky maintain a system of ZIP-code assigned public schools, it also offers alternatives like magnet schools, the Kentucky Virtual School, the Kentucky School for the Deaf, and the Kentucky School for the blind. Thousands of students self-select into these schools each year. Even though these students do not attend their assigned public schools, public schools continue to operate. The same will continue to be true if Amendment 2 passes. The directive to the legislature is to provide a system of schools, not assign students to a single school that may not fit their needs. And the legislature should be empowered to offer as many options as possible to students, not just a few select alternative public options.
A majority of Kentucky’s neighboring states offer a robust public school system and have programs that help students pursue the education that works best for them – and they are better off because of it. Introducing competition in the market encourages public schools to improve. Research shows increasing educational options for students has positive effects on both the students participating in the choice program and the students who continue to attend their local public school. A meta-analysis of research on the competitive effects of educational choice on public school students shows no overall negative impact on student outcomes – for both groups of students. Education is about more than outcomes, though. It is about ensuring students can access the learning environment that works best for them.
The current method of delivering education in Kentucky – prioritizing a system over students – is broken.
Amendment 2 will move Kentucky forward and put Kentucky’s students first. That’s what we should be focused on when considering Amendment 2 in November.
Heather LeMire is the state director of Americans for Prosperity-Kentucky.
