(The Center Square) – Kentucky voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have opened the door for school choice programs across the state.
The Associated Press called the referendum on Amendment 2 at 8:42 pm ET. With 70% of the votes counted, votes against the measure were defeating yes votes by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. Partial results have been reported in more than 80 of Kentucky’s 120 counties, and votes against the measure were ahead in each of those.
If approved, the amendment would have allowed the General Assembly to pass laws allowing the state to give families funding for educating their children outside of their public school district.
Critics, including school district educators and leaders, attacked the measure, saying it would create a voucher program and take funding from school districts.
Tuesday’s vote is the latest defeat for school choice proponents across Kentucky. The Republican-led General Assembly passed reforms in 2021 that would have established educational opportunity accounts that private individuals and businesses could have funded up to $25 million and received tax credits for their contributions. Those funds would have then been made available through educational opportunity accounts that would have allowed eligible families to use those funds toward paying for private schools, out-of-district public schools or other school-related costs.
State courts ruled the 2021 law and a subsequent attempt in 2022 as unconstitutional since Kentucky’s constitution prohibits the use of tax funds for private schools. As a result of those rulings, Republican legislators pushed for the constitutional amendment proposal in this year’s session.
“This is a resounding win for public education, one that we hope will finally stop efforts to route tax dollars into vouchers that other states are showing are both a financial and academic failure,” the Kentucky House Democratic Caucus leadership said in a statement. “There are more than 630,000 public school students – and tens of thousands of teachers and other school employees – who count on us as legislators to give them our undivided attention. It’s time we do that, and that includes budgeting every single dollar that Amendment #2’s supporters were ready to spend on vouchers.”
Some school choice supporters argued superintendents and other public school officials were using district resources to campaign against the measure, which violated state law. State Attorney General Russell Coleman issued an opinion in response, saying the anti-amendment statements were not a proper use of public funds and resources.
