Kentucky voters will have a say in November on whether they want to allow the General Assembly to allocate public tax dollars to go toward private and charter schools. WKMS Morning Edition host Daniel Hurt talked with educators with differing perspectives on the amendment, one in support and the other opposed.
According to the Kentucky Secretary of State’s office, Amendment 2 would allow for the General Assembly to provide financial support for students outside the system of public schools.
The language on Kentucky ballots will read as follows:
“To give parents choices in educational opportunities for their children, are you in favor of enabling the General Assembly to provide financial support for the education costs of students in kindergarten through 12th grade who are outside the system of common (public) schools by amending the Constitution of Kentucky as stated below?
It is proposed that a new section be added to the Constitution of Kentucky to read as follows: ‘The General Assembly may provide financial support for the education of students outside the system of common schools. The General Assembly may exercise this authority by law, Sections 59, 60, 171, 183, 184, 186, and 189 of this Constitution notwithstanding.’”
Political action committees for and against Amendment 2 have spent millions of dollars to influence voters’ decisions.
Some advocates in support of Amendment 2 say it would allow for more choices for parents and their children. Meanwhile, some opponents feel it will harm public education, which they say has been under attack in the Commonwealth for years.
Noraa Ransey is a teacher at North Calloway County Elementary School in Murray, and has been a teacher for 20 years. She opposes the amendment, and believes it will harm public education in Kentucky.
“Public schools or education are already under funded. We haven't been funded to 100% in many areas for the whole time I've been teaching, most recently, some areas that stand out, transportation, professional development for teachers,” Ransey said. “I always encourage people to do their own research… kypolicy.org reports that it will reduce Murray Independent Schools’ budget by 13%. That would be 41 educators, jobs cut, also $3 million lost in funding. So I keep seeing ads that say, raises for teachers. How, if we're cutting that much money, we've been fighting for raises for years, and we've been fighting for other things for years, how can taking away help us? That was just Murray. And then in Calloway County, where I teach, it's similar, 13% budget reduced, 43 educators, jobs cut, and that kills me, because I'm thinking, which one would I let go? None. We have choice now where to send our kids. They've worked hard to make sure you can go to which school you want to.”
Monica Hayden is the System Director for St. Mary’s Catholic School System in Paducah. Students may attend St. Mary School System regardless of religious affiliation, but families who enroll their children currently must pay for tuition fees completely on their own without public tax dollar support. Hayden said she supports Amendment 2 because she thinks parents should be empowered to have more options and a greater choice when it comes to where to send their children to school.
“I see it as just the first step, as a Catholic school or as a private school or a parochial school, we definitely believe in parent choice. Our parents choose to send their children here. So I think that, from my understanding [of] the way the Constitution is written, that the amendment… would allow the constitution to change so that further conversations can be had, so different options might be available.” Hayden said. “But this is the first step that needs to get done. So I definitely support it in allowing the parents to at least have some time and opportunity to to extend their choices.”
Ransey said that the amendment proposal on this November’s ballot is another attempt from the state legislature to divert funding from public to private schools. She points out that similar attempts from theGeneral Assembly have been struck down by the state Supreme Court. previous years. Now, she said the General Assemblyis trying to use a hyper partisan voting public to push changes.
“This journey to vouchers started – and it was shut down – in 2017, 2018, and 2020, and all the way up to the Kentucky Supreme Court. It was shut down. That's why we're at where we are. Now let's amend the Constitution, because with the Constitution the way it is, vouchers will not come into Kentucky. If we change the constitution, it's really vague. It just says they're gonna allow money to go to not common schools – which is public schools – if you're not familiar. And it doesn't say we're gonna do this or we're gonna do that. It gives them a blank check to do whatever they want. With other states that have done this already, this is how it was done. This is how it was set up. And it seems really scary.”
Meanwhile, Hayden emphasized that the amendment does not specifically do anything to impact public or private schools, but that if passed, it would give the option for the state legislature to enact education funding changes. Those changes could ultimately lead to vouchers or funding mechanisms to change to accommodate private schools.
“Parents are choosing to send their children here. So, that's the main reason [for supporting it] it gives us the opportunity for further discussions. I don't know what that's going to look like. I don't know how that's going to impact the parents or the schools. You know that that's up to further decisions. So I'm in support of the amendment right now, because I believe that it opens up those opportunities.” Hayden said. “I don't know how that's going to impact St. Mary. I don't know how it's going to impact private education, and it may not. It may end up being charter schools or something that really doesn't impact us, but at least there's that opportunity for those discussions in the legislature going forward.”
Amendment 2 is one of two proposed amendments to the Kentucky Constitution that will be on Kentucky Ballots on Election Day. Election Day is Tuesday, November 5th. Polls will be open in Kentucky from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time. For more information about early voting, polling locations, and registration status, visit go-vote-dot-KY-dot-gov.
Full interviews of both educators are embedded in the story above.
