BY NICHOLAS BRAKE

This fall the national push for education vouchers comes to Kentucky. Voters face a choice on the ballot in November about Amendment 2, which would allow the General Assembly to spend public money on private schools.

Do not be fooled; there is a lot of misinformation and deception in the ads supporting this amendment. If passed with a “YES” vote, the legislature can write a blank check to private schools at the expense of public schools. In other words, no guardrails.

Rural communities stand to lose the most, as over half of the private schools in Kentucky are in only three counties (Jefferson, Fayette, and Kenton). Nearly half of Kentucky’s counties have zero private schools.

Take all the politics out of the issue; this is an investment decision about public education. I have served as a teacher, superintendent, and an economic development professional, working with businesses interested in investing in the state. Voters should know the track record of similar programs from other states. They deplete educational resources in rural areas with mixed results and a hefty price tag. From a strictly economic development perspective, a “yes” vote will drain resources from rural communities and send those dollars to the largest counties in the state.

Much of the pushback to private school voucher programs has come in several GOP-led states in recent months. Proposals like the Kentucky voucher program were recently defeated in Texas and Tennessee. In Idaho, one of the most conservative states in the U.S., a grassroots coalition of public education advocates and chamber of commerce Republicans consisting of 250 of the state’s largest employers said no to vouchers. Their message was clear. Private school vouchers are too expensive.

A non-partisan analysis estimated the cost in Idaho, a mostly rural state with half the population of Kentucky, to be over $360 million a year. The most conservative estimate of the cost in Kentucky is $199 million annually but it could cost as much as $1 billion. Many GOP states that have added such programs are already having buyer’s remorse–that will get much worse over the next few decades. Ohio has a huge hole in its state budget because of its voucher program. Arizona is borrowing against its opioid settlement funds to pay for prisons due to the massive budget shortfall resulting from its voucher program.

The head of the Idaho Business for Education group said it best. “If we are not adequately funding public schools, why would we add additional dollars to a program that could penalize current educational funding,” he said. “If you are a fiscal conservative, this makes no sense whatsoever because what you are doing is blowing a huge hole in your state’s fiscal responsibility. It weakens public schools where most students in every state go to school. It does not make good business sense. Great schools are good for business. The most effective approach is to fund the schools we have.”

Funding going to private schools is not accountable in the same way funding for public schools is accountable to taxpayers. Research estimates that 65 to 90% of voucher costs will go to families already sending their children to private schools or planning to do so—a group whose average income in Kentucky is already 54% higher than public school families. In short, the program is a handout to private school families and is not accountable to the taxpayers.

In addition to those highlighted above, there are many other reasons to vote NO on Amendment 2. Shifting public money to unaccountable private schools will widen the geographic, income, and racial divides by spreading scarce public dollars across duplicative systems. The bottom line is that Amendment 2 is irresponsible public policy and a dangerous fiscal decision for the Commonwealth.

A “NO” vote on Amendment 2 means the General Assembly can only fund public education—something that is in the best interest of every small and rural county in the Commonwealth that values its public schools!

Nicholas Brake is an assistant professor at Western Kentucky University. He was formerly superintendent of the Owensboro Independent Schools.