School choice ballot measure framed as a pivotal decision for Kentucky education

By BRUCE SCHREINER The Associated Press

FILE - Jefferson County Public Schools buses make their way through the Detrick Bus Compound on the first day of school, Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, in Louisville, Ky. (Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal via AP, File)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Jeff Faughender]

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Prominent Kentucky leaders on both sides of a school choice ballot measure are framing the issue as a pivotal moment for education, making their final pitches before the start of early voting Thursday.

Voters will decide whether Kentucky’s constitution should be amended to allow tax dollars to support students attending private or charter schools. Supporters include Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and his wife, Kelley. Gov. Andy Beshear and Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, both Democrats, are leading the opposition against the measure.

Coleman, a former public school teacher and administrator, has warned of dire consequences for public education — from funding to athletics — if the proposal known as Amendment 2 wins voter approval.

At a rally Wednesday evening in Lexington, the state’s second-largest city, Coleman said public school employees are counting on voters turning out to reject the ballot measure.

“We are going to beat this amendment,” she said. “We are going to reject the national movement to privatize public education.”

The measure’s supporters say expanded school choice won’t change the commitment to public education. Rand Paul says it has the potential to change the lives of young people now struggling academically, by giving their parents more options to place them in schools that best fit their needs.

“What I see is wasted potential,” the senator said during a town hall Tuesday evening.

Currently, Kentucky’s constitution only allows taxpayer money to fund “common schools,” which state courts have interpreted as public.

The Kentucky amendment is one of three school choice measures going before voters in November. A Colorado measure would create a constitutional right to school choice for K-12 students. In Nebraska, voters will decide whether to repeal a new state law that funds private school tuition with state dollars.

A majority of states offer some sort of state-backed program to help cover private school costs.

With no statewide office up for grabs and the state seen safely in the GOP presidential column, the school choice measure is Kentucky’s most hotly debated election issue — and another testing ground for a contentious question with sweeping implications for the future of school funding nationally.

Three days of early voting begin Thursday in Kentucky. Voters can cast ballots, with no excuse needed, again Friday and Saturday ahead of Tuesday’s election. Secretary of State Michael Adams has urged Kentuckians to vote early if possible because of an expected high turnout on Tuesday.

Kentucky’s Republican-supermajority legislature put the school choice measure on the ballot. The proposal wouldn’t establish policies for how tax dollars could be diverted. Instead, it would clear the way for lawmakers to consider crafting such policies to support students attending private or charter schools. Options could include tax credit scholarships, education savings accounts or vouchers.

“There is nothing about a school voucher scheme that will make public education better,” Coleman said.

The measure’s opponents say public dollars allotted for education should only go to public schools.

Supporters say the proposal isn’t an attack on public schools. Voter approval of the measure would spark innovations that would help public schools as well as private or charter schools, Paul said.

“Competition makes all of the schools better,” the senator said.

The lack of a funding mechanism for charter schools has kept them from opening in Kentucky.

Meanwhile, Kentucky Republicans are expected to maintain their overwhelming legislative majorities in Tuesday’s election. The recent death of a Republican state senator, Johnnie Turner, has set off a scramble among 11 write-in candidates hoping to fill the eastern Kentucky seat. Any votes for Turner and another candidate who withdrew from the race will not count.

Turner was known for his staunch support of the coal industry and other causes in his Appalachian district. He died last week from injuries sustained in September when he plunged into an empty swimming pool at his home while aboard a lawn mower.