The Kentucky legislature last week took no action on charter school funding for the second year in a row. A member of the Charter School Advisory Council is concerned the lack of funding will stunt the growth of charter schools in the Commonwealth.
Western Kentucky University Professor Gary Houchens is a member of the Kentucky Board of Education and sits on the Charter Schools Advisory Council.
He said he is “concerned and disappointed” in the lack of funding. A 2017 law made charter schools legal in Kentucky.
But lawmakers have not given any money for the law. Houchens said a charter school “can’t begin to create a budget” for their operations without a state funding mechanism.“The longer we wait on a funding mechanism the greater the possibility that some potential charter applicants just give up- and that would be very unfortunate,” he said.
Critics of charter schools said the institutions take away state funds that could go towards public schools.
Education Commissioner Wayne Lewis lobbied the legislature to provide a funding mechanism for charter schools in December. He has said that public education dollars should move from traditional public schools to charters based on where parents choose to send their kids.
