As voters prepare to vote on a school choice ballot initiative in Kentucky , one school district in the state found itself in hot water this week after it used public resources to express its political opinion on the ballot initiative fight.
Pulaski County Schools used its social media platform to advocate voting "no" on a ballot initiative that would expand school choice in Kentucky to allow the state's General Assembly to fund private school options for students.
"No on Amendment 2. Public Funds for Public Schools!” the school district posted to Facebook, causing consternation among school choice advocates for using public funds for political purposes.
"The Pulaski County Kentucky school system is blatantly breaking the law by using public resources to campaign against a ballot initiative," Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) said on Tuesday in a social media post. "This is ongoing: it’s still on their websites."
Many states have been moving toward expanding school choice options, whether legislatively or through ballot measures, for the past several years. Often, public school districts oppose school choice policies because they typically allow parents a wider breadth of choices for sending their children to school, allowing them to use tax dollars previously required for public schools to go toward public, private, or homeschooling options, if the parents so choose.
School choice policies are on the ballot in several states this year, including in Kentucky.
Advocates of school choice say that one of the biggest benefits of expanding the opportunity is that doing so allows parents to pull their children out of underperforming or failing public schools and send them somewhere that emphasizes education over ideology and aligns more with their values.
Opponents of the initiatives believe reallocating funding will leave public schools without enough money to function. A since-removed graphic posted by Pulaski County schools claimed a school voucher program would reduce the district's budget by 16%, cut 143 teaching positions, and reduce funding by nearly $15.5 million.
Kentucky's Amendment 2 would allow public funds to go toward private schools in the form of vouchers and comes after similar legislation, which included a tax credit for private school scholarships, was struck down by the state's supreme court.
Patrick Richardson, the Pulaski County School District's superintendent, was forced to take down the political activism from school district websites after state Attorney General Russell Coleman, a Republican, published an official opinion stating public entities cannot spend money on political advocacy.
Richardson, however, vowed some degree of defiance, writing in a statement, "I do not agree with the Attorney General's opinion, however I respect the office and will follow this advisory until it is overruled. ... I believe the Attorney General's advisory is partisan politics at its worst. When elected officials work to silence people, that is a red flag and we should all take notice."
Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) also defended the school district, saying, "These school districts, I believe, have First Amendment rights. It needs to be done in a certain way. But this is a public school district fighting for the future of public schools."
Kentucky is not the only state that could have significant school choice changes in November.
Colorado also has a school choice amendment that may appear on the ballot if it becomes certified by state officials.
The Colorado amendment would enshrine a constitutional right to school choice in the state and also include provisions protecting parental rights.
"The people of the state of Colorado hereby find and declare that all children have the right to equal opportunity to access a quality education; that parents have the right to direct the education of their children; and that school choice includes neighborhood, charter, private, and home schools, open enrollment options, and future innovations in education," the proposed amendment states, adding, "Each K-12 child has the right to school choice."
Backers of the proposed amendment submitted 201,784 signatures to obtain ballot access, more than the 124,238 needed. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, has until Aug. 23 to certify the signatures and either allow or deny ballot access.
Arizona became the first state in the country to offer education savings accounts, a kind of school choice that provides a fund for students to pay for various forms of education, in 2011. While Arizona does not have a ballot initiative in the fall, and while most school choice initiatives are opposed by Democrats who are typically aligned with teachers unions, the Grand Canyon State's statewide elections could decide which party is in control of administering the ESA program.
Arizona has shifted to a battleground state in recent years, but Democrats could see their party take complete control of state government for the first time since 1966. If that happens, Democrats would likely either weaken or entirely scrap school choice in the state.
Republican majorities in both state houses are slim, with two people making a majority both in the state House and Senate. According to the 74, only two to three seats per chamber are considered competitive.
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Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) is approaching the start of her third year in office and could see her party in control to close out her first term. Hobbs already proposed repealing an expansion of school choice in her first budget proposal, but it died in the legislature.
Eligibility for school choice in Arizona has become universal since its initial passing, and participation has grown from 12,000 to 75,000 students.
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