A ballot measure that could let Kentucky lawmakers steer tax dollars toward educational opportunities outside the public school system is a modern day "civil rights issue," say Republican Sen. Rand Paul and his wife, Kelley Paul.
At a forum hosted by the Warren County Conservatives this week, Kelley Paul encouraged residents to vote "yes" on Amendment 2, saying the measure could help low- and middle-income families whose only options for education might be "failing and violent" schools.
If approved, the constitutional amendment would open the door for lawmakers to enact a "school choice" program , such as charter schools or school vouchers that go toward private school tuition.
"It is unfair and frankly elitist to say, 'sorry, this is the best that we can do for you,'" Kelley Paul said. "When we trap kids in a failing school where they graduate but can't even read at a basic high school level, we doom them to a cycle of poverty. This is why my husband, Rand, calls school choice the civil rights issue of our time. And it's not just about a poor education that we are dooming many of these kids to."
Kelley Paul referenced, among other examples, a fight that broke out on a Jefferson County Public School bus earlier this month as an example of violence within public schools, saying Amendment 2 would give "all Kentuckians options that best protect their children and their their education and their safety."
Democratic Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, a former teacher, responded to the comments Wednesday, saying portraying the amendment as a civil rights issue is disingenuous.
Instead, the school choice movement "is a lot of work to re-segregate" schools, Coleman said. And it's "actually leaving kids behind who are in poverty, kids behind who are the marginalized students. ... So what that means is, when those students are left and the funding goes to private schools, their resources, their programming, their staff numbers go down."
In a statement to The Courier Journal, Rand Paul did not mention civil rights but did express his support for the amendment.
"Every child in every neighborhood, of every color, class, and background deserves a school that will help them succeed," Rand Paul said. "Educational freedom, as proposed by Amendment 2, ensures students are able to learn in the best environment possible and breaks the poverty cycle that far too often keeps children from fulfilling their potential."
Kentucky's junior senator is closely aligned with a political action committee, Protect Freedom PAC, that launched the first television advertisement supporting Amendment 2, titled "Helps Everybody."
Rand Paul has also made a push for school choice in Washington D.C. and previously introduced legislation that would let federal funding follow students who are homeschooled or in private schools.
Kentuckians will vote on the amendment on Nov.5 by checking "yes" or "no" at the ballot box. The measure needs a majority of votes to pass.
Reach reporter Hannah Pinski at @hpinski@courier-journal.com or follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @hannahpinski.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Rand Paul calls school choice 'the civil rights issue of our time,' wife says
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