BY JOHN SCHAAF
If Amendment 2 passes and Kentucky adopts a dangerous school voucher plan like other states, there will be unaccountable private school operators who will misuse or steal millions of taxpayer dollars and be involved in other criminal activity.
That’s exactly what’s happened in states that bought into the radical policy of throwing hundreds of millions of tax dollars at private and church school operators, with taxpayers having no oversight of how it’s spent or who’s spending (or stealing) it.
Earlier this year, three private school operators in Indiana were indicted by a grand jury on 76 counts of money laundering and wire fraud. According to the indictment, the operators inflated enrollment numbers at their schools to get taxpayer money for kids who did not actually attend.
The Indiana Attorney General is suing the operators for $154 million, as they’re accused of steering massive cash payments to themselves and family members.
Milwaukee was one of the first places to give out taxpayer-funded vouchers with no oversight, resulting in years of criminal activity, including when the head of a voucher school was sentenced to 18 months in prison for mail fraud and money laundering after he was convicted of stealing public dollars.
In Arizona, the state’s Attorney General is investigating the use of private school vouchers to purchasekayaks, espresso machines, Broadway tickets, and ski passes. The investigation comes after a grand jury indicted three people for fraud and theft in connection with Arizona’s voucher program.
In Florida, the owner of Touch By an Angel Learning Academy in Lake City was recently charged with grand theft and fraud after investigators found that the private school collected more than $1.3 million in public money and used much of it to pay for restaurants, hotel rooms, and possibly engaged in human trafficking.
These examples are just the tip of the iceberg.
There is a sad history of problems in private schools that often employ unlicensed staff who work in unsupervised settings. In recent months, there have been numerous arrests, indictments, and convictions of private school teachers for sex-related crimes involving students.
In voucher systems in other states, most taxpayer money goes to church schools where the public has no oversight, sometimes allowing troubled individuals to have unfettered access to children. At least two examples of breach of religious trust are currently being investigated in Kentucky:
- A Lexington pastor and youth minister who police say admitted to having sex with a child is facing multiple charges related to sexual abuse. Attorney General Russell Coleman indicted the pastor on numerous felony counts, including rape and sodomy; and
- The owner and employees of Pilgrim’s Rest School, a private school in Ohio County, were indicted on dozens of counts, including first-degree criminal abuse of a child under 12, fourth-degree assault (child abuse), and first-degree sexual abuse.
Most churches operate honorably. However, these are local examples of the type of child sex abuse cases that have plagued Catholic and other Christian churches for years. It would be a huge mistake to give these churches millions of tax dollars with no public oversight.
Amendment 2 would create dangerous public policy, leading to theft of Kentuckians’ tax money and other criminal activity.
John Schaaf is a retired attorney and co-author of “The Hidden History of Kentucky Political Scandals” (The History Press, 2020). His email is John.Schaaf1975@gmail.com