A statement from the Kentucky Education Association on HB174:
KEA adamantly opposes any proposed legislation that takes funding away from our public schools and hands it over to private schools. That includes HB174. The state Supreme Court has ruled again and again that the Kentucky constitution is clear on this issue; public money can only be used to fund public schools. Period.
This bill is yet another attempt to strip funds from our already underfunded public schools to divert public tax dollars to private schools that are not required to be held to the same standards, regulations, and transparency for the use of public tax dollars as our public schools. The bill provides no oversight of private schools that would receive public tax dollar funding, and does not require the private school to administer and report state standardized testing – all of which is required by our public schools.
On Tuesday of this week, the House Education Committee heard testimony about the educator shortage and the impacts these shortages are having on students, educators, and public schools. The future of Kentucky is sitting in our public schools right now, and our students should be the priority. The Kentucky Legislature should be focused on providing a high quality public education for every student in the Commonwealth instead of looking for ways to give public tax dollars to private non-regulated organizations.
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