By Brent Schanding

As Gov. Matt Bevin crusades for the consideration of charter schools in Kentucky ahead of the upcoming session of the General Assembly, advocates and opponents are likely to drudge up the same old partisan debates. The ruckus for reforming the state’s education system isn’t a new one. Yet the push for charter schools in the past has largely failed to gain momentum from lawmakers under previous administrations.

This year could be different, however, considering a possible conservative tilt in the House. Republicans have a chance to overtake Democrats. And the Senate is already dominated by Republicans, who have typically been more receptive to the idea of charter schools than their Democratic counterparts.

It’s premature to say if lawmakers can garner the votes to open the doors for more independently-operated education systems in Kentucky.

Time will tell.

And while the 2016 session begins Tuesday and runs through April, Gov. Bevin has already begun taking his pro-charter schools message to the people, visiting a predominantly-black West Louisville church this week and telling a crowd of roughly 100 pastors that he does not want to back down from this fight.

“If we were willing to talk about these things to run, we’re sure as blazes not going to back off them now that the people have chosen us to represent them,” Bevin said in his push for charter schools.

The Kentucky Pastors in Action Coalition has in previous years supported charter schools as a way to improve the lives of black and low-income families through access to quality education.

The group — along with other advocates — say the independently-operated education systems can skirt Common Core standards and reconcile low standardized-test scores among minorities in public schools and parents who seek additional options for their children’s education. In public school districts across the state, black and Latino students typically score less than half as well as their white counterparts. It mirrors data from both Franklin County and Frankfort Independent districts, which shows minorities perform as much as 20 points lower than their white peers in many core subject areas.

Wayne Lewis, head of the Kentucky Charter Schools Association, compares the debate between public and charter schools to grocery shopping.

He told The State Journal in an interview before the 2015 General Assembly that he would not continue to shop at a store that didn’t adequately supply his family’s needs.

“There are no ifs, ands or buts about it,” he said. “The traditional public school system in our commonwealth is failing to provide an adequate education for children of color and economically disadvantaged children.”

But don’t look for Frankfort/Franklin County’s Democratic representatives to support the push for charter schools in the upcoming session.

They have largely sided with opponents who believe it’s an attempt to defund and undermine Kentucky’s public schools system.

Rep. Derrick Graham, D-Frankfort, chair of the House education committee, told The State Journal ahead of last year’s session that while the data shows obvious problems for black and Latino students, legislators have already put into place many mechanisms similar to charter schools. He cited school-based decision-making councils and districts of innovation, which allow districts to get waivers and attempt to fix achievement gaps on their own. Schools also have greater input into their curriculum because of these measures.

He said those mandates already hold districts accountable.

“There are these things in place and we can hold those districts accountable,” Graham said in previous interviews. “What they take on in those districts is very rigorous with high standards. The majority of us have succeeded because of public education, and if you divert public money to a charter school they should be held accountable by local elected officials (like a school board). What no one mentioned was investing in early childhood education to address achievement gaps.”

And Franklin County’s 56th House District Rep. James Kay has told The State Journal that the solution isn’t to recreate the wheel.

“When you look at the issue of education in Kentucky from a first-term legislator — looking at the budget — the glaring thing is looking at how far behind we are in funding our education system,” Kay told this paper ahead of last year’s session. “Education should be a priority in the budget and charter schools want to divert the funding. Our schools have improved and our graduates in the 56th District are going on to better opportunities. When you see a school struggling, you don’t just create a new school.”