Kentuckians will decide in November if public tax dollars should be allowed to flow to private schools.

For public schools across the state that already struggle to make ends meet, including Warren County Public Schools, the answer is a firm no.

WCPS leaders, alongside Council for Better Education and Kentucky Education Association officials, gathered Tuesday to discuss the upcoming constitutional amendment vote that will decide the limits of public spending in education.

WCPS Superintendent Rob Clayton is one of several leaders statewide to support Protect Our Schools KY, a “coalition of public education advocates and allied organizations” seeking to defeat Amendment 2.

Clayton said similar legislation has become increasingly common across the U.S., including nearby Ohio and Indiana, adding “under no circumstances is there any data” that shows an improvement in public school education.

“In fact, what we have come to learn is it greatly exacerbates the public schools in those states to be able to provide the quality of education that students, parents, families come to expect … ,” Clayton said.

The ballot option in November will read as follows: “To give parents choices in educational opportunities for their children, are you in favor of enabling the General Assembly to provide financial support for the education costs of students in kindergarten through 12th grade who are outside the system of common (public) schools by amending the Constitution of Kentucky as stated below?”

A “yes” vote would amend the constitution to allow public dollars in private education, which is currently expressly prohibited. The General Assembly could decide what kind of programs this would entail, such as private school vouchers or charter schools.

Private school voucher programs often go by other names – education tax credits, scholarship tax credits, education opportunity accounts and so on. Each entails sending state dollars to private, often religious institutions for every student who attends, despite having little to no accountability to state governments or boards.

Similarly, charter schools are institutions that receive public funding but are largely independent of oversight from a statewide board of education. They must still meet certain quality standards or face shut down.

A report from the Network for Public Education found that roughly a quarter of charter schools nationally closed within five years between 1999 and 2017. Roughly half shut down within 15 years, the report found.

Charter schools are currently legal in Kentucky though remain unfunded.

Proponents of Amendment 2 have argued the change would foster competition that would drive progress between districts. Critics say the move would only further exacerbate the tight budgets seen in districts statewide, fueled by over a decade of underwhelming state allocations.

Clayton is one of those critics. He said the amendment stems from a “national agenda” that seeks to privatize education as a whole, not about giving parents options.

“It’s not about school choice. It’s clearly about diverting public funds to private schools,” Clayton said. “We feel confident that if people are informed about the implications, it will be voted down.”

He added that he has had conversations with “more than a dozen” lawmakers regarding the amendment, several of whom will not be voting yes in November despite publicly supporting the proposal.

“I would say at least a half-dozen have shared with me that they’re personally not going to vote for it, but yet they voted for it in the legislature,” Clayton said. “They basically shared with me that they’re going to let the people decide, which I’m totally comfortable with. I understand that position.”

Clayton wasn’t alone on Tuesday, with Alvaton Elementary Principal Pauletha Butts and Oakland Elementary teacher Brooke Vincent sharing their condemnation of the proposed change, calling the implications “disastrous.”

Butts recalled how public schools became resource hubs in the wake of the December 2021 tornadoes and continue to support families dealing with the fallout. In addition, she discussed how attracting teachers and providing raises continues to be a challenge for schools statewide.

Vincent shared how often educators end up paying for supplies and goods out of their own pockets, making it harder to make ends meet and further driving away employees amidst an ever-worsening teacher shortage.

All of these services and issues, they said, would be stretched thinner with the passage of Amendment 2.

“Our kids in our communities deserve better. Public dollars should stay with public schools so we can continue to provide the highest possible quality education for all students,” Butts said. “Our public schools deserve to be supported. Our students, families and our communities are worth it.”

Council for Better Education Executive Director Tom Shelton told the Daily News that while the CBE does not expressly advocate for policy, its job is to support public education however is needed.

The CBE in 2020 successfully sued over House Bill 563, which sought to allow tax credits in return for donations to education opportunity accounts used to pay for private school tuition.

It also sued over House Bill 9 in 2022, which sought to implement a funding model for charter schools in Kentucky. The issue came down to the ability for such schools to turn away qualified students to lower class size while also sending public funds to private institutions without state accountability.

Shelton said every district will be impacted if Amendment 2 passes. He said the initiative primarily benefits private institutions in the “triangle” of Louisville, Lexington and northern Kentucky where most are found.

“What would happen if Amendment 2 were to pass is the money from rural public schools in eastern Kentucky, western Kentucky, southcentral Kentucky, would be diverted to private schools in the ‘triangle,’ ” Shelton said. “Most of those rural school districts have some of our most needy students because of issues like poverty, so it’s always the districts that are the poorest by property and income wealth that are hurt to worst on these type of schemes.”

Beyond the legal ramifications, Shelton said he believes public education is foundational to a functioning democracy and the “backbone of our country.”

“We were founded with the intent of education for all, and that’s where public schools came from,” he said. “To me, it’s hard to imagine anyone who considers themselves to be a patriot and a conservative would say that they want to do away with public education and privatize it, because it will ultimately hurt our whole country.”