The Kentucky Constitution specifically mandates one and only one responsibility for the General Assembly (the House of Representatives and Senate): to craft a biennial state budget by appropriating funds. This task belongs solely to the legislature. Not the governor, and not the Kentucky Supreme Court. For the past several years, the conservative majorities in the House and Senate have worked to create balanced budgets that have changed Kentucky for the better. And we have made great strides in every sector of our state government except for one: education.
The reason for this is that the Kentucky Supreme Court has interpreted language in the 1891 version of the Kentucky Constitution to limit the legislature’s ability to make the changes necessary to provide Kentucky children with the same opportunities their peers right across the river in Indiana enjoy.
Amendment 2 amends language in sections of the Constitution to allow the legislature to appropriate education funding as is appropriate, just like it does for every other dollar the state spends. Again, the legislature already does this for every dollar spent in the Kentucky government, except for education funding. For that reason alone, we believe Amendment 2 must pass.
But there is a lot of misinformation being spread by groups who want to protect at all costs their monopoly on education spending.
They say that this amendment will create vouchers. This is not true. The amendment does not create any programs, vouchers, or otherwise. It is true that it will allow the legislature to consider all options, but any new policies would first have to be debated publicly and thoroughly in the legislative process. If anyone says they know what programs will be created if Amendment 2 passes, they are lying, period.
It has been said that Amendment 2 will “destroy public schools.” This is simply ridiculous. Think about that phrase: DESTROY public schools. Public schools are the foundation of education. Everybody knows this. Everybody supports this. It is likely that something about how public schools operate will change, but there is ZERO chance that public schools will be destroyed. Let’s face it. Across the state approximately 45% of our high school students are proficient in reading, 35% in math, and only 6% are proficient in science. Six percent. This is unacceptable.
No matter what happens with Amendment 2, something must change. But Amendment 2 will give us the best opportunity to make quality changes to a system that is currently not getting the job done. THIS IS NOT THE FAULT OF TEACHERS! This is a systemic problem.
Another false narrative is that teachers’ jobs will be eliminated. Nonsense. With the horrible reading and math proficiency we are currently experiencing, why would we cut teacher jobs? This is a complete fabrication to scare voters. If anything, we need to evaluate spending habits in the school systems to see how we can better use precious current funds to increase the number of teachers, not fire them.
It has also been said that funds for educational choice will simply go to parents who already place their children in private schools because they can already afford to do so. In fact, it is almost certain that anything we pass will include a method of means testing to ensure we focus on helping low-income families.
These are just some of the red herrings being put forward by those who will defend the current funding methodology at any cost. There are other distortions, items of misinformation, and outright lies about Amendment 2. Should you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact either one of us by calling 1-800-372-7181. You can also email [email protected] or [email protected].
Let us finish with one final thought. Section 183 of the Kentucky Constitution states that, “The General Assembly shall, by appropriate legislation, provide for an efficient system of common schools throughout the State.”
Does anyone truly believe that we currently have an “efficient” system of public schools? Certainly not the 55+ percent of students who can’t read or do math or science at grade level.
Constitutional Amendment 2 will put us on the right path to the efficient and effective educational system we all want and deserve. Please vote yes on Amendment 2.
Written by
DJ Johnson, Kentucky State Representative – District 13
Gary Boswell, Kentucky State Senator – District 8
