I am going to be honest, there are a lot of reasons that I am against Amendment 2 and I know not everyone shares my reasons, but there is one reason that all Kentuckians should oppose Amendment 2 and that is how it is written, the proposed ballot language will read:
“To give parents choices in educational opportunities for their children, are you in favor of enabling the General Assembly to provide financial support for the education costs of students in kindergarten through 12th grade who are outside the system of common (public) schools by amending the Constitution of Kentucky as stated below?”
If passed, the constitutional amendment 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.”
The proposed ballot language sounds great right? Give parents choices. I am all for parents having choices, but that isn’t how the constitutional amendment will read.
It says nothing and everything.
It doesn’t direct the legislature how and why they may provide financial support; it gives them carte blanche. The current legislature and every single one who comes after. And those numbers at the end, those are other parts of the Kentucky Constitution that get nullified by this Amendment. So it doesn’t just add to the Constitution – it takes away seven! other pieces.
And do you know what those seven are? Probably not, and they aren’t going to tell us on the ballot. Section 59 says the Legislature can’t pass laws targeting specific areas of the state. Do we want to have separate laws for Jefferson Co and Daviess Co? Section 183 says the Legislature is responsible for establishing an efficient system of public schools. If they are no longer going to be responsible who is? Are we still going to have efficient public schools?
I think we in Owensboro and Daviess County have great public schools, and we have an amazing private system in Owensboro Catholic. But if this law passes, we may lose the quality of our schools among many other things. Even if you support state money for private schools, I am asking you not to support this Amendment because it does not provide a clear path to making that happen.
Written by
Jen Vogel
