MEDIA ALERT: Bluegrass Institute issues statement on Kentucky Supreme Court ruling striking down school choice
For Immediate Release: Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022
Contact: Jim Waters @ (270) 320-4376
The Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions issued the following statement in response to today’s ruling by the Kentucky Supreme Court holding that House Bill 563 (HB 563), which would have expanded educational liberty in the commonwealth, is unconstitutional.
The Kentucky Supreme Court sided with opponents of educational liberty by denying voluntary donations from individuals and businesses to help children trapped in failing schools in the state’s largest counties have access to better schools and brighter futures.
HB 563 would have allowed parents in Kentucky’s largest counties to use the funds to cover tuition at nonpublic schools that work better for their children while families in all 120 counties could have used the accounts for a variety of school supplies and services, including dual-college credit courses and therapy for learning-disabled children.
EOAs are funded by voluntary donations from individuals and businesses who receive a 95-cent credit for every dollar donated. The court claims such donations reduce the amount of money coming into public coffers and, by extension, reduce resources needed for public schools. Such, then, is the case with every dollar donated to churches and charities for which Kentuckians receive a credit against their state tax liability.
Contrary to the court’s ruling, Kentucky’s Constitution does not prohibit educational alternatives for parents; it simply requires that the commonwealth “provide for an efficient system of common schools throughout the State.”
Merriam-Webster defines “efficient” as “capable of producing desired results with little or no waste” while the Oxford Dictionary describes it as “achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense.”
Considering per-pupil funding rose by an inflation-adjusted 80% between 1990 and 2019 and yet barely one-third of all Kentucky public school students read proficiently at grade level, from whatever definition you choose, Kentucky has failed in its constitutional responsibility to provide an education system that achieves maximum results with minimum expense.
Combining the fact that low-income minority students benefit greatly from educational options in other states and only 12% of Kentucky’s Black eighth-graders are reading well enough to set them up for academic success in high school and eventually colleges or career, it’s obvious this court’s ruling was all about protecting a failed, costly and inefficient system at the expense of Kentucky’s neediest children.