Kentucky School Advocate

April 2024

By Kerri Schelling

KSBA Executive Director

Recent passage of House Bill 2, putting the issue of public funds for private education on the ballot this November, represents a pivotal moment in the history of Kentucky’s system of common schools, and potentially the most consequential legislation in the Commonwealth since the Kentucky Educational Reform Act (KERA) of 1990. 

The constitutional amendment came as no surprise to those of us who have followed Kentucky’s legislature the last few years. Multiple legal defeats of previous, statutory measures attempting to spend public funds outside of the common school system have affirmed what many education advocates have always known to be true: Kentucky’s constitution prevents public money from being diverted for the benefit of non-public schools. 

For the record, KSBA neither came out in support or opposition of a ballot measure, favoring local decision making over state mandates. Recent KSBA member survey results tell us that approximately 30% of respondents support leaving the matter for the people to decide, even when other surveys indicate they oppose the question itself. Our membership, comprised of Kentucky’s largest group of elected officials, is diverse. At 857 school board members strong, our association rarely sees lockstep agreement on major education issues. 

Where we do achieve consensus is in our guiding legislative principles. Just a few of them include opposition to (re)directing public funds to K-12 schools outside the common school system; support for policies that strengthen local decision-making; full funding of all school funding formulas; opposition to any proposal that violates federal law or the state Constitution; and support for policies that better prepare our children for success at the K-12 level and beyond.

These principles reflect what is potentially at stake should the ballot measure pass on election day. It is not singularly an issue of funding, or local control, or accountability, or equity, or efficiency, or student outcomes. It’s an issue binding them all together with enormous ramifications for all Kentuckians. 

Providing a system of common schools was so fundamental to our founders that it is the only activity that Kentucky’s Constitution requires the legislature to fund. In order to allow public money to be redirected to non-public schools, seven sections of the Constitution would first need to be suspended. Such significant alterations deserve careful consideration. 

HB2 is unique among recent ballot initiatives. Because there is no companion “enabling” legislation attached to it, we are given no clues as to what the potential public funding of private education might look like. That should concern those charged with the governance and operation of our public schools.  This fall, voters will consider the following question:

“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?

‘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.’”

The question itself explains the legislature’s intended outcome, so our attention now turns to engaging our communities, ensuring they recognize the realities of what’s on the line before casting an informed vote. Education advocates – parents, teachers, administrators, school board members, taxpayers – must rally together to ensure voters understand the repercussions that would come with its passage. This amendment is not about “school choice;” parents already have that right. It is about giving authority to the legislature to create an undefined public funding mechanism for alternatives outside the public school system.