If passed with a “yes” vote, public taxpayer money could flow to private schools; some JCPS leaders urge saying “no.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Here’s the question most Kentucky Republicans pushed in the state legislature: “To give parents choices in educational opportunities for their 5 children, do you favor allowing the General Assembly to provide financial support 6 for education? The costs of students in kindergarten through 12th grade who are outside the common (public) school system by amending the Kentucky Constitution as follows?
That’s what will appear on Kentucky ballots this November. It is the main barrier preventing taxpayer money from going to private or charter schools after a judge stopped the cash flow citing the state constitution.
A “yes” vote will allow the state to use tax money for private or charter schools. A ‘no’ vote keeps the money exclusively within the public school system.
“While we have seen our fair share of challenges at JCPS, a voucher plan that does not serve all children is not a solution,” said Maddie Shepard, president of the Jefferson County Teachers Association union.
Jim Waters, president of the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, believes publicly funded vouchers for private schools will give families more options when deciding where their children will go.
“Here we have a demand for a better educational system. The problem is that we must focus on how to satisfy it,” he said.
He points to JCPS not meeting state benchmarks in reading and math as one reason people need to have the option, and that private school would be out of reach for low-income families without vouchers.
“The Voucher Amendment, as we call it, paves the way for our state to begin issuing blank checks to private schools using public tax dollars,” said Dr. Corrie Shull, JCPS board president.
He and Shepard disagree over the waters and joined the Protect Our Schools KY campaign, which has held events across the state urging voters to reject the amendment.
“If Amendment 2, the voucher amendment, passes, money will be taken away from public schools and given to unaccountable private schools,” the union president said.
Autumn Neagle, president-elect of the state PTA, joins them in calling for “no” votes on the second constitutional amendment, saying private schools leave citizens without a voice.
“At least I had people I could talk to and advocate for. If you don’t have a school board, you can’t advocate for that,” he said.
She worries that students like her daughter, who need extra help with reading, will not have resources if public school funds go to private or charter schools.
However, Waters says Charters could provide that kind of specialized instruction.
“And then that charter will dictate what kind of school it will be and how it will operate in exchange for being freed from some of the rules and regulations that we think hold back great teachers,” Waters said.
Ultimately, it is the voters who will decide that future in Kentucky.
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