Competing narratives over a proposed constitutional amendment took center stage at this year’s Fancy Farm Picnic in a preview of the electoral fight to come this November.
Supporters call Amendment 2 a “school choice” measure. Opponents like Democratic Representative Cherlynn Stevenson call it “public enemy No. 1 for public schools.”
“Amendment 2 would allow Rep. [Suzanne] Miles and her buddies in Frankfort to shift dollars meant to support your public schools in western Kentucky directly to rich folk in the Golden Triangle so they can send their kids to private school,” Stevenson yelled to a raucous crowd.
Republican Representative Miles from Owensboro made the inverse argument, saying so-called “school choice” measures would be an equalizer among poor and rich students, and allow students and parents to better personalize their education.
“It can be the freedom for every child to strive, not just the rich kids, but every child — the voiceless, the parents that don’t have anything that they can do to have a choice,” Miles said.
The amendment that voters will see on the ballot won’t actually do anything right away. Essentially, it allows the legislature to provide educational funding outside of the public school system, allowing them to disregard seven sections of the state Constitution in order to do so.
It will read, “The General Assembly may provide financial support for the education of students outside the system of common schools. The General Assembly may exercise this authority by law, Sections 59, 60, 171, 183, 184, 186, and 189 of this Constitution notwithstanding.”
Some of the biggest opposition to the amendment doesn’t just come from teacher unions and Democrats, but also some Republicans representing rural districts, afraid that funding school choice measures would mean less money for small rural public schools.
A couple legislative attempts at “school choice” measures in Kentucky have already been struck down by the courts. Those attempts too were made largely over the strenuous objections of Democrats and rural Republicans.
In 2022, the state Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional a school tax credit scholarship program that would have allowed donors to contribute to a private school scholarship fund in lieu of paying state taxes. Late last year, a judge found that a charter school law passed the previous year was also unconstitutional.
Now, lawmakers say they will leave it up to Kentucky citizens to decide whether to change the state constitution to allow public dollars to support education outside of public schools, as is already happening in most other states.
Teachers unions in particular are protesting the amendment. At Fancy Farm, they donned red “No to Vouchers” t-shirts, shouting “No on two!” when the amendment came up in political speeches.
Kentucky Education Association president Eddie Campbell from Knox County said he believes Amendment 2 would do nothing to help rural communities like his.
“Public schools are the heart and soul of our communities. You drive by a public school any day of the week you’re gonna see the parking lot full, you’re gonna see parents there,” Campbell said.
He also pointed to the fact that private schools are few and far between in many parts of the state. Graves County where Fancy Farm is located has one Christian private school. Ballard County doesn’t have any, nor does the county where Campbell used to teach choir.
But supporters like Sara-Elizabeth Cottrell, who is running for Republican state representative in Louisville and came to Fancy Farm as an advocate for “school choice,” said that means nothing will necessarily change in those areas.
“If there aren’t any private schools now, and there aren’t any private schools next year, what’s the difference between voting yes or no on the amendment?” Cottrell said.
State lawmakers from the area have made arguments to similar effect, like GOP Sen. Gary Boswell from Owensboro, who said at a Republican breakfast before the picnic that the amendment wouldn’t have much effect in rural areas.
Cottrell also argued that the amendment leaves room for different policies and said they could be implemented in a way that benefits rural communities too — like, by giving tax credits for homeschooling supplies. Homeschooling has increased in many rural areas of the state, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This amendment does not have the word private school in it. It doesn’t have the word voucher or homeschool,” Cottrell said. “It enables the legislature to contemplate an array of options.”
Cottrell said each of her children has tried different types of schooling — from public to private to homeschooling, and each excelled in a different format. She said she wants parents with less means to have the same opportunity to customize education for their children.
The view from a western Kentucky superintendent
Cattycorner to Fancy Farm lies Ballard county, a bit farther to the west and less populated too. Ballard County School District is small, only about a thousand students these days, said superintendent Casey Allen.
“Our population as a county and our enrollment as a school district has been on a steady decline for decades,” Allen said.
Allen has worked for Ballard County schools for 21 years. He said they are a point of immense pride for his community. He’s well aware that teachers in his district could make more money by just crossing the county line into larger school districts, like McCracken County.
“They stay here. They teach rural kids,” Allen said. “They have connections here. It's different. It's just different in rural Kentucky.”
But Allen said with declining enrollment, it's a struggle holding onto teachers and programs. He fears that talking about things like school choice won't help kids in his district. Allen predicts it would pull state funding, which he already believes is inadequate, in even more directions.
“It just feels like a fight constantly to keep what we’ve got,” Allen said. “But it’s a fight worth fighting.”
Allen said he’s heard that doorknockers in favor of the amendment are arguing that public schools could end up with even more dollars per pupil if school choice measures are implemented.
The argument, as Cottrell put it, is that even though some funds would move with the student, some tax dollars would still remain with the school, meaning they could potentially end up with less students to split their funds between. She pointed to Florida public schools, which she said have benefitted from a declining student population.
Allen is skeptical.
“Explain that one to me. If we’re dividing the pie into more pieces, I feel relatively certain that my piece of the pie will get smaller,” Allen said.
In Florida, for example, private school enrollment has ballooned in the largest districts. And in those districts, they are now contemplating shuttering public schools, Politico reported in May.
Allen said he’s not really worried that kids will go to private schools in other counties or even that more parents will pull their children for homeschooling. He’s afraid that there will be less money to split among public schools. With declining enrollment due in part to his county’s declining population, he already has to cut back some programs.
The school district already had to choose between the choral and the arts program — arts ending up on the cutting room floor. A beloved industrial maintenance program also got cut, which Allen said was disappointing to the community. He wants to hold on to the programs that they still have.
“Someone sits in the seat that has to make those tough decisions. And those people are us,” Allen said.
Since Kentucky courts have tied lawmakers hands on this issue, voters will have their chance to weigh-in this November.
State government and politics reporting is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
