Top Kentucky Education Official Says Likely Not To Defend Charter School Law – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville

The Kentucky Board of Education’s Jason Glass said he would not support the state’s new charter school funding law if opponents filed a constitutional challenge in court.

“I probably wouldn’t spend the time and resources [Kentucky Department of Education] staff to defend this issue,” Glass told the local oversight advisory committee at a meeting on Tuesday. “Instead, it will be an issue for the Attorney General to take up.”

Glass rattled off a list of what he believed were “serious constitutional issues.” lawThis requires school districts to send money to charter schools created within their boundaries.

Charter schools are run by private boards and are publicly funded. Although it has been strictly legal in Kentucky since 2017, it is not yet legal. We did not create a permanent funding mechanism until 2022.Many institutions are required to develop regulations before an organization intending to charter board can apply to an open school.

Many charter opponents, including Gov. Andy Beshear, have warned that the law is likely to cause constitutional problems because it diverts tax dollars directed toward the public school system.

However, no lawsuit has been filed so far.

Glass, meanwhile, said the Kentucky Department of Education and the Board of Education must move forward with the rules mandated by the Charter School Funding Act, known as House Bill 9.in line with measures

“Unfortunately, House Bill 9 was very prescriptive and was rarely decided by KDE’s policy experts and board,” said Glass.

The regulations mirror the law and detail how school districts calculate the amounts to send to charter schools within their boundaries. Most of the advisory board superintendents voted in favor of the change, but made it clear they felt forced into their own hands.

Lawrence County School Superintendent Robbie Fletcher said:

Harrison County Schools Superintendent Harry Burchett said, “There are serious constitutional problems with local tax authorities collecting taxes and transferring them to unelected agencies.” added.

Many superintendents who answered the call worried that the new law would allow charters to siphon students out of the school system, along with the cash that would follow them under the new law. Our laws and regulations allow charter schools to accept students from anywhere in the state. That means school districts may be forced to spend local taxes on students who don’t live within their boundaries.

Fletcher said he believes it puts public school districts at a financial disadvantage.

“We are looking at ways to help our students prepare for careers and college,” he said. Anything that takes money from us limits what we can offer our students.”

The council’s action will send the proposed rule to the state school board for consideration at its October 12 meeting.