By: Keith Kappes
Columnist
Carter County Times
It was two months ago this week that I first sounded the alarm about the danger to Kentucky’s public schools if voters approve the proposed constitutional amendment to allow public funds to be used for private schools.
Specifically, what is identified as Amendment 2 on the general election ballot would change Section 184 of the Kentucky state constitution which says “no sum shall be raised or collected for education other than in the common schools” without a vote of the electorate.
Masquerading as a well-financed “school choice” issue, the proposed amendment would open the door for the Republican supermajority in the General Assembly to fund the charter schools they approved in 2017 but have been unable to fund.
That funding would come from the money now being used to support 176 public school systems in our state. In other words, taxpayer money now going to local districts would be siphoned off to assist private K-12 schools where the average family income is about $150,000.
Wealthy Kentuckians now paying thousands of dollars per year in tuition at private schools likely would see their costs go down. It is estimated that implementing a school voucher system in Kentucky like the Florida model would cost more than $1 billion yearly.
Here’s another reason not to support Amendment 2. Among the 29 states that already have some form of vouchers for private schools, as much as 90 percent of those funds taken from public schools go directly to parents of students in private schools.
Most of our school districts serve rural counties. Few of those counties currently have private schools in operation. With free funding, many new private schools are expected to materialize. Already underfunded by national standards, many of our local public schools could not survive drastic budget cuts or the loss of students to unaccredited private schools.
We also should keep in mind that private schools are not required to measure and publicly report academic results or disciplinary matters or other accountabilities.
Finally, do we really want to change our state constitution to say it’s good public policy to rob Peter to pay Paul? Contact Keith at keithkappes@gmail.com.
