Although the Kentucky legislature paved the way for school choice with a Constitutional amendment, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear vowed to strike down the amendment when it reaches the November ballot.
HB 2, which passed both chambers on March 15th, seeks to clarify the state constitution’s language about education funding. If approved by voters, the bill would add a section to the state constitution allowing lawmakers the authority to pay for non-public schools.
The measure passed in the Senate by a vote of 27-8 and the House 65-32. Of those opposed to the measure were 12 Republicans who represent rural communities and all the Democrats in the House.
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The bill won’t require the governor’s signature like most bills because the office does not have the power to veto constitutional amendment bills. Instead, the amendment will appear on voters’ ballots in November.
"But I can beat ‘em," Beshear said at a weekly news conference, per the Kentucky Herald.
Beshear added that Kentuckians will "overwhelmingly vote against public dollars going to private schools."
"Private schools are fine, but they are a choice," the governor said. "You know, the way to fix public education is to fix public education, is to ensure we’re providing the funding that it needs, and if you look at these (Republican) budgets, they’re not making the increases in public education that are necessary to make those fixes."
He continued, "So you can’t under-fund and starve a system and then say it doesn’t work and send the money somewhere else. At the end of the day, these are private corporations that really want to get their hands on a lot of money that should be going to public schools."
The ballot will contain the following text for voters to respond to: "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?"
Assuming that voters approve the amendment, legislators will discuss and develop Kentucky’s school choice policies during the legislative session.
School choice, or providing all families with alternatives to the public schools they’re zoned for, can be expanded through multiple avenues at the state level, including school voucher programs, tax-credit scholarship programs, individual tuition tax credit programs and deductions, and education savings accounts.
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Universal school choice made significant gains in the past couple of years when a wave of red states passed legislation into law. More states are looking to join the fold in 2024, a phenomenon experts call a "school choice revolution."
Republican Governor Kay Ivey last week signed the CHOOSE Act into law, making Alabama the latest state to make universal school choice law.
