With a little more than 40 days until Election Day, some Kentucky superintendents said this week that a ballot question on school choice would disproportionately threaten their districts because they rely more on the state to fund public education. They called Amendment 2 a voucher program.
"Amendment 2 is a voucher amendment, and vouchers take away money from public schools," said Gary Fields, superintendent of the Bowling Green Independent School District.
Amendment 2 would allow the legislature to allocate taxpayer dollars outside of public schools, benefiting charter and private institutions.
According to an analysis by the left-leaning Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, if Kentucky establishes a Florida-scale voucher program, it would cost $1.9 billion annually from the state budget. That equates to the cost of employing 9,869 public school teachers and employees in the Bluegrass State.
Kentucky's fastest-growing school district, Warren County Public Schools Schools, would see a 14% budget reduction or nearly $27 million, potentially resulting in the loss of 251 positions.
KCEP estimates a smaller voucher program similar to those in Ohio, Arizona, Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina, and Wisconsin would cost the state $200 million annually.
Simpson County Schools Superintendent Tim Schlosser said passage of Amendment 2 will result in not only the loss of teacher positions, but larger class sizes and fewer opportunities for students.
“This is not a small change. It’s a significant shift that could upend the educational system we’ve all built together for the 90% of Kentucky’s children who attend public schools," Schlosser said Monday. "The stakes could not be any higher at this point.”
The superintendents gathered after school hours and off of school property to speak against Amendment 2 following guidance from the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office. The Pulaski County school district posted graphics on its website last month advocating against the school choice proposal. Republican Attorney General Russell Coleman then issued an opinion saying public resources can’t be used to advocate for or against the amendment.
Speaking at the downtown branch of the Warren County Public Library, Russellville Superintendent Kyle Estes suggested only three counties would benefit most if the amendment is approved by voters on Nov. 5.
“Fifty-three percent of the commonwealth’s private schools are in three counties: Jefferson, Fayette, and Boone. That’s where the money is going to go," Estes said. "Sixty counties in Kentucky have no certified private schools. They’re going to lose out.”
If Amendment 2 passes, Estes said Russellville city schools could lose 21 teacher positions while nearby Logan County could lose 67 jobs.
The superintendents reiterated that public schools are already underfunded. Besides educating students, they said public schools are a lifeline for many families, providing basic needs like food and and mental health support.
"Recent experience of other states shows that a large portion, 65-90% of voucher funds, go to families who are already enrolled in private schools or plan to do so, rather than expanding opportunities for low-income students," said Owensboro Public Schools Superintendent Wendy Duvall.
The Republican-controlled Kentucky legislature says it put Amendment 2 on the ballot to give every child access to the education that best suits their needs. The superintendents who railed against the proposal on Monday said they weren't opposed to private schools.
"Locally, we have outstanding private schools and we have parents who choose to home school their children," Fields said. "That is a choice, but we don't think public dollars should be paying for that decision."
"It's an agenda that's outside of this state, in my opinion," Estes said. "We've got groups that are pushing special interests, trying to lobby the state to do things they've done in other places to defund public education. That's really what it's about."
Instead of expanding school choice, the superintendents pressed state lawmakers to improve teacher shortages, reduce class sizes, and fund universal pre-K.
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