This fall, the people of Kentucky get to vote on a proposed amendment to our state constitution. Amendment 2 allows the state legislature a wide berth to divert funds from the state’s education budget outside of the common (public) schools.
With apologies to Alexander… This is a terrible, horrible, no-good, very-bad idea.
I have a series of posts planned here to share some of the many reasons that I, and many other Kentuckians who care about education, taxes, public budgets, and the checks and balances in our state government are voting NO ON AMENDMENT 2.
But up first, I’d like to share an op-ed I wrote for my local newspaper.
(The following appeared in print August 29, 2024 on the Opinion page of the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer.)
In November, Kentuckians will vote on a constitutional amendment that has been called a school choice measure or a voucher scheme. No matter the label, it’s clear that our votes on this proposal will have significant impact on K-12 education in the Bluegrass State.
With two children in public schools, plus one recent graduate, I’m a parent stakeholder in the education funding discussion. However, I also understand other positions in this conversation. A few years ago, I was paying tuition at two area private schools. Before that, I was a homeschooling parent. And prior to that, I was a National Board Certified Teacher in a public elementary school.
Whether you are a parent, teacher, or community member, it’s essential that we all understand what is at stake when we vote on Amendment 2. The language being proposed says:
“The General Assembly may provide financial support for the education of students outside the system of common (public) schools. The General Assembly may exercise this authority by law, Sections 59, 60, 171, 183, 184, 186, and 189 of this Constitution notwithstanding.”
When I taught kindergarten, I loved story time because I could choose books with advanced vocabulary or complicated sentence structure, which helped my emerging readers grow. Unfortunately, state legislators don’t write for instructional purposes.
Instead, this wording might be deliberately confusing. Let’s break it down like we’re in Circle Time together.
A yes vote would mean that a voter thinks the constitution should be changed to include these new sentences, which would allow the legislature to send public dollars to private schools.
A no vote would mean you don’t want to change the constitution to include this new language, which would serve to protect public schools.
Why do they need protection?
The Kentucky Center for Economic Policy did an extensive impact study on the outcome of this amendment’s passage. They found that Daviess County’s education budget would likely face a 13% reduction. To be specific, the Center estimates that $19,290,888 of funding would be lost here.
Our state already underfunds education (see www.fundsouthernschools.org). The last thing we need to do is remove even more funding — but this isn’t only about budgets.
The Kentucky Center reports that roughly 168 educator jobs could be cut if this amendment passes. With over 2,200 employees, DCPS is a major employer in our area. Do we really want to support an amendment that will result in widespread teacher layoffs?
Four years ago, we collectively hailed teachers as heroes for their amazing efforts during the pandemic. Teachers still deserve our support this November.
We should also consider the impact beyond our own neighborhood. Owensboro and Daviess County can be proud of our strong public schools, plus our large homeschooling community and many excellent private and parochial schools.
Our region is already teeming with school choices. But many of our rural-county neighbors do not have these options. This amendment would impact them most — 71 counties in our state — that’s about 60% — have zero certified private/charter schools.
Where’s the “choice” for them?
Half of the non-public schools in Kentucky are clustered within three counties: Jefferson, Kenton, and Fayette. The state education budget isn’t divided up into separate accounts for each county. If all those students in the Golden Triangle apply for state funding to pour into their private schools, students in rural counties across Kentucky are the ones who will suffer most as their schools are gutted.
Perhaps it’s hard to prioritize rural schools miles away from us. If you’re already spending your hard-earned dollars on your child’s education, getting help from the commonwealth might sound appealing.
I understand where you’re coming from as a former private school parent.
Other states that have passed “school choice” laws have found that vouchers mostly subsidize existing private school students. However, the subsidy is often not enough to offset the full amount of tuition. A study from Princeton University (Ed Working Paper No. 24-949, April 2024) found that after taxpayer-funded tuition subsidies began, Iowa private schools increased their tuition rates between 10-26%.
That means in the majority of cases, private schools just raise their rates to absorb the voucher amount and ask parents for more. So families who’ve been paying tuition are disappointed to find the state doesn’t take over their full tuition costs, and lower-resourced parents who were hoping to send their kids to private school find themselves gatekept out.
In my view, public schools deserve protection and public funds. Defeating Amendment 2 ensures a well-educated future for Kentucky’s students.
Michelle Nebel holds a B.S. in Education from Shorter University. She taught in Floyd County (GA) and Broward County (FL) Public Schools before relocating to Owensboro. She received her National Board Certification as an Early Childhood Generalist in 2005.