A vote to approve charter schools legislation in Kentucky’s House of Representatives broke on party lines Friday, but was ultimately passed in the House by a 56-39 margin.

Under House Bill 520, local school boards could be asked to approve an unlimited number of charter schools within their district beginning in the 2017-18 academic year or create regional charter schools with other districts.

Kentucky is one of seven states that don’t allow some form of charter schools, which are publicly funded but exempt from most of the state standards that govern every other public school.

House Bill 520 would let local school boards and the mayors of Louisville and Lexington contract with private groups to create charter schools in their communities. Each of these schools would be governed by an independent board of directors that must include two parents from the school’s students. The contracts would have to be renewed every five years.

Only local school boards and the mayors of Louisville and Lexington could approve the contracts, but their decisions could be overruled by the state Board of Education. Anyone could ask to create a charter school, with one exception: for-profit companies. However, a school’s board of directors could contract with for-profit companies to run the school.

If a student leaves a traditional public school to attend a charter school, the state tax dollars would follow that child to the new school, except for a 3 percent processing fee, money earmarked for debt payments, construction and, in some cases, transportation.

When House lawmakers explained their votes, the bill’s supporters described charter schools as a way to improve options for Kentucky’s students. Some of the bill’s opponents said they voted no to support their local school districts.

Republican Rep. Michael Meredith of Brownsville described his yes vote as a tough choice and acknowledged the divide on the issue. Despite the tough choice, Meredith said he was motivated to do what’s best for Kentucky students.

“I’m voting yes because it might be a solution to our problems,” he said on the House floor.

Rep. Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, gave an impassioned speech on the floor, explaining his objections to the legislation. Various media outlets Tweeted out Richards’ comments, including from Save our Schools KY @SOS_KY: “House rep Jody Richards says the way #HB520 is written allows charters to not have to have certified teachers. Chokes up.”

Fom @BGPolitics: “Rep. Jody Richards: “Every $ put into the charter schools will be taken way from the local school system & they don’t have enough now.” JC”

Richards and Rep. Wilson Stone, D-Scottsville, voted against the legislation. Republicans in the region were in favor.

Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, called the bill “the most significant and fundamental education reform that Kentucky has seen since the enactment of the Kentucky Education Reform Act in 1990.”

In a follow-up interview, Brooks described the partisan charge around Kentucky charter schools as unfortunate. That hasn’t been reflected at the national level, he said, noting that President Donald Trump and former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton support charter schools.

Although he supports the bill, Brooks said he wants to make sure vulnerable students are prioritized, including students eligible for free and reduced meal programs and those with learning differences.

“We want to make sure that charter schools are not set up to cherry pick the gifted and talented,” he said.

Brooks said that Republican Rep. John Carney, of Campbellsville, has been supportive of prioritizing vulnerable students in conversations he’s had with him. Carney is the sponsor of the legislation.

“We trust the intent of the bill but we want details ramped up,” he said.

Brooks said the charter school system set up by the bill reflects lessons learned from charter schools across the nation, where there are charter schools in 43 other states. He also supported an amendment that would strike a provision allowing for online charter schools despite lobbying efforts to keep the language in the bill.

“The national research in no way supports all-virtual charters,” he said.

While he thanked Carney for his work on the bill, he also thanked Sen. Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green, for making school choice a perennial issue in the General Assembly. Wilson has introduced charter school bills, but they never got past the then Democratically-controlled House. Brooks said Wilson’s policy work is responsible for the bill’s central elements and said he’s “the reason that charters are going to become a reality.”

The Center for Education Reform, a national school choice group, in a statement called the bill and its amendments “scaled back” and restrictive.

“Applicants wanting to open a charter school in the state will first have to get permission from the district, which experience shows is rarely given in the absence of a swift and binding appeal to the state board of education or multiple chartering authorizers,” the statement read.

The group supported an amendment from Rep. Phil Moffett, R-Louisville, adding the mayors of Louisville and Lexington as potential charter school authorizers. But it took issue with other provisions, such as barring online schools.

The bill next goes to the Senate.