MEDIA ALERT: Residents should sign petition, put JCPS tax hike on November ballot

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For Immediate Release: Wednesday, June 10, 2020

(LOUISVILLE, Ky.) – The Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, Kentucky’s first and only free-market think tank, urges all Jefferson County residents to sign the petition recalling a proposed property tax increase approved recently by the county's school board and to demand the district reduce wasteful spending and live within its means.“

Numerous audits show a bloated Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) administration and often misguided spending priorities,” said Bluegrass Institute president and CEO Jim Waters. “Absolutely no evidence exists that simply throwing more money at education will improve performance, as indicated by the institute’s report released earlier this week showing black students in more than half of JCPS’ high schools reach only single-digit math proficiency in a district with a $1.8 billion budget. Few can believe this is a good return on taxpayers’ investment.”

The institute is working with community leaders and volunteers to collect the 40,000 petition signatures needed to put the issue on November’s ballot for voters to decide.

To sign the recall petition, visit nojcpstaxhike.com.

“To demand such a tax hike during a pandemic – especially amidst all the wasteful spending occurring – is insensitive and immoral,” Waters said. “Families are hurting, businesses have closed and people throughout the district have lost their jobs and are at risk of losing their homes, yet the out-of-touch JCPS school board members want to pile on the pain. Given the current situation, at the very least, voters deserve the opportunity to decide.”

Currently, the JCPS school board spends over $17,000 per student annually – thousands of dollars higher than the cost in cities of similar size like Nashville, which spends only $11,045 per student.

JCPS’ claims that more dollars are needed to build schools in the West End ring hollow, considering the district only currently spends about $8,000 of that $17,000 on actual student instruction.

“This out-of-control district needs to address its spending practices instead of burdening taxpayers with increased costs for an inefficient school district that leaves far too many of its at-risk children behind,” Waters added. “Blindly providing more money is not the answer. Instead, more accountability for current dollars and more school choices for worried parents are needed.”

For more information, please contact Jim Waters at jwaters@freedomkentucky.com, 859.444.5630 ext. 102 (office) or 270.320.4376 (cell).