LOUISVILLE, Ky. — School choice could be on the ballot in November. Lawmakers in Frankfort filed House Bill 2, which would allow voters to decide whether public funds can go to private schools.

What You Need To Know

  • Lawmakers in Frankfort proposed a bill Friday that would let voters decide whether public funds can go to private schools

  • Kentucky courts ruled last year that the use of tax dollars to support charter schools violates the state constitution 

  • Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions supports school choice

  • However, the Kentucky Council for Better Education said it's clear that the constitution says public funds should be used for public purposes

Kentucky courts ruled last year that the use of tax dollars to support charter schools violates the constitution. As a result, lawmakers proposed Friday that voters decide whether the state constitution should be changed.

This is a measure a Kentucky free-market think tank said is a step in the right direction.

"We've talked to many parents who have two or three children, and they tell us each of our children learn differently, each of them respond differently," said Jim Waters, president of the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions. "We have great public schools in our state. We have great teachers, but no one size fits all." 

On the other hand, the Kentucky Council for Better Education said it’s clear the constitution says public funds should be used for public purposes, not for private or charter schools.

"When we have a woefully underfunded public school system statewide, taking money to send to private schools or to charter schools will hurt all schools throughout Kentucky, in our rural areas and urban areas and across the entire state," said Tom Shelton, executive secretary of Kentucky Council for Better Education. 

However, Waters said the funds belong to Kentucky's taxpayers and should be used to educate students.

"Are we going to deny our families educational freedom and choice just to prop up a system that has remained largely unchanged since the 1950s? What other sector of our society has failed to change and adapt and grow and give choices?” Waters said. 

Shelton said he thinks a problem with the bill is not offering school choice for families but for schools since they choose who they admit. 

“Public schools take all students and have accountability for all students," Shelton said. "When this type of issue arises, what we're really saying is, we want to give money to schools that have the ability to pick and choose which students they educate."

The bill now heads off to committee where it can be discussed, changed or killed.

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