School choice advocates in Kentucky are hoping voters will do what the state courts wouldn’t do — allow a modern path for state-supported payments to private schools.
Kentucky is one of three states, along with Colorado and Nebraska, that have school choice questions on the ballot this fall. Voters will be asked to decide whether public money should be used to support private education. Opponents say the measures would weaken public schools by depriving them of money, while supporters claim state aid would give parents more control over their children’s education.
The measures come as school choice gains momentum across the country. Thirty-three states, as well as Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, already have at least some type of school choice program in place, according to EdChoice, a nonprofit that advocates for these programs. They range from government-sponsored education savings accounts to voucher programs to various types of tax credits that support provide scholarships or cover educational expenses for private schools.
But the measures have sparked some controversy. In Arizona, which in 2023 became the first state to make all students, regardless of family income, eligible for a school voucher, parents have tried to utilize the voucher money for this purpose Dune buggies and steep Lego sets.
Teachers’ unions and other public school professionals generally oppose school choice plans, while many conservative politicians, religious institutions and private education groups are in favor, as are some people of color in districts with low-performing public schools.
In rural areas, where there are fewer private schools than in cities and suburbs, choice programs have struggled to gain traction.
To overcome this opposition in Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has worked difficult to elect like-minded allies to the state legislature. He led a multimillion-dollar political offensive that resulted in six Republican House members who opposed his school choice initiative being defeated in the primary this year. State line reported Earlier this year, it announced that Abbott was just a few votes away from passing a school choice program when the Legislature reconvenes in January.
Ballot measures
In Kentucky, the Republican-dominated Legislature approved a program in 2021 to provide tax credits to individuals or businesses for donations to nonprofit organizations that provide scholarships for students attending private schools.
Lawmakers narrowly overrode Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto the measure. But the state Supreme Court declared the plan unconstitutional in December 2022.
And last year, a district judge struck down a 2022 Kentucky law that would have allowed public funding for charter schools. There are currently no charter schools in Kentucky. Such schools are publicly funded but run by outside organizations that operate them autonomously without many of the rules that apply to customary public schools.
Now advocates want Kentucky voters to approve changes to the state constitution that would allow tax credits and public funding for charter schools.
The proposed constitutional amendment would give the Legislature the authority to enact laws that appropriate state funding for the education of students outside the public school system. It says lawmakers could do so despite portions of the Kentucky Constitution that prohibit the utilize of state funds for “any parochial, denominational or denominational school.”
According to Republican Senator Damon Thayer, a robust supporter of the referendum, the ballot measure would give lawmakers the power to pass laws similar to those that were defeated.
“We passed [private education] scholarships in the past,” Thayer said in a telephone interview. “These would be on the table in the near future if the amendment passes.”
He said it would give parents “the option to send a child to another school if the public school isn’t giving them what they need, be it private or parochial.”
But a coalition of public education advocates formed the group Protect Our Schools KY to oppose the change. Tom Shelton, a retired Kentucky school superintendent and one of the campaign’s leaders, said it was a travesty to send public money “to unaccountable private schools” when public schools in the state could utilize the funds.
He said rural areas would fare particularly poorly under a proposal that would allow public money to flow to private education institutions. Shelton said the immense majority of private schools in Kentucky are located in the two largest cities, Louisville and Lexington – meaning rural public schools would lose money that would be diverted to private schools and rural students would be less able would be able to benefit from the change.
“Who will lose the most? The poor country kids,” Shelton said.
In some Cases have private schools increased tuition fees in states with school choice. And the Wall Street Journal did reported that vouchers primarily benefit families who already have students at private schools.
“Who will lose the most? The poor country children.”
– Tom Shelton, Protect Our Schools KY
In Nebraska, voters will decide whether to partially repeal a law passed this year that allows the state to operate a $10 million education grant program for private school students.
The highest court in the state certainly in September that the referendum could remain on the ballot.
State Sen. Dave Murman, a school choice supporter who identifies as a Republican in the bipartisan Nebraska Legislature, said he was disappointed the referendum was allowed to take place.
Murman said he expects a close vote on the referendum.
He postulated that public schools were “afraid of competition.” They’re afraid they’ll lose students to private schools.” But he hopes public schools will improve in the face of competition.
However, Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, which supports the referendum, said there is already competition between public schools.
“In 1989, Nebraska introduced ‘optional enrollment,’ which allows any family to attend any public school in the state as long as it is not full,” he told Stateline.
He said the teachers union could have fought the law directly in court, but thought it would be better to put it on the ballot and let voters decide. Teachers believe parents and students are ecstatic with the public school options they have now, he said.
In Colorado, the ballot measure would enshrine school choice in the state constitution. Language would be added stating that “every K-12 child has the right to school choice” and that “parents have the right to direct their children’s education.” School choice would specifically include neighborhood schools, charter schools, private schools, home schools, open enrollment options, and future innovations in education.
The conservative advocacy group Advance Colorado proposed the change. In Colorado, students can already attend any public school, even outside their district, for free, and charter schools have long existed. Critics of the ballot measure say it would open the door to private school vouchers, although advocates argue that is not its intent and that it is only intended to protect charter schools. Some Democrats in Colorado proposed tightening requirements for charter schools last year.
Ongoing disputes
States with existing school choice programs have faced resistance this year.
The South Carolina Supreme Court last month thrown out the state voucher program, which creates difficulties for parents who have already received funds. State education officials and Republican Gov. Henry McMaster asked The court asked the court to reconsider the ruling, but the Supreme Court refused to rehear the case in early October, likely eliminating any possibility of a resumption of private tuition payments this year.
In Arizona, reports of misuse of funds to purchase devices that were not directly tied to a curriculum prompted the attorney general to do so initiate an investigation. The State Empowerment Scholarship Account program allows parents to utilize state funds for various educational costs, including tuition and school supplies.
But after the school system clarified documentation requirements that tie purchases to a curriculum, the Goldwater Institute, a conservative think tank in Arizona, said sued the state Department of Education about the requirements on behalf of some homeschool parents. The institute called the verification requirements an “absurd new burden” on homeschooling parents that would prevent them from purchasing pencils, flashcards and other equipment not specifically provided for in homeschooling curricula.
The Grand Canyon Institute, a centrist think tank focused on economics, was held in a report Last month, it disclosed that Arizona voucher accounts had $360 million unspent by parents as of June.
“These parents have chosen not to spend money on their children’s education,” Dave Wells, the institute’s research director, said in a telephone interview. “There is no follow-up to see if the children are OK.”
The institute recommended that the state keep an eye on the money and check whether and where it is spent.
Department of Education spokesman Doug Nick responded to the report told Arizona radio station KJZZ said the department is administering the program in accordance with state law.
“If the legislature makes changes to the law, we will follow those changes,” he said.
