The 2024 state legislative session was marked by a diverse range of K-12 education legislation, covering topics from bus safety to cursive writing to enhancements in mathematics interventions, and adjustments to substitute teacher certification. 

There was notable legislation passed with aims of supporting the teacher pipeline and others around safety and student wellbeing – see a full recap of K-12 education and other legislation impacting kids here. To add to the business of the session, Robbie Fletcher was confirmed as the next Commissioner of Education.

On the Kentucky Ballot: Amendment 2

Following the session, the hottest topic to continue conversation is focused around House Bill 2. This bill puts a constitutional amendment to the voters in November 2024 asking if they support a change to the state constitution to allow the legislature to fund non-public schools like private and charter schools. This will be Amendment 2 on the ballot – more about it from WUKY Radio and KET’s Kentucky Tonight. Amendment 1 comes from Senate Bill 143 – you can read more about that one here.

Alright back to Amendment 2 – this amendment does not designate exactly how those funds will be allocated, it does allow the Kentucky General Assembly to make considerations around public dollars being spent outside the traditional, common school system, if approved by the voters through a constitutional amendment. 

This movement around allocation of funds outside of public school has been coined “School Choice.”

School choice may mean different things to different groups of people. Some currently say in Kentucky that we have school choice – meaning that families can choose whether they want to send their children to a public or private school. Within public schools, there may be additional choice of what school within a district a student can attend – often referred to as “intra-school choice” – allowing movement within the district from an assigned school.

Others view school choice as having public dollars support choice outside of the public school systems, such as homeschooling, private schools, and charter schools. The mechanism for those funds (how funds are given to families for this choice) could be via tax-credit scholarships, vouchers, educational savings accounts, etc. 

Learn more about the landscape of school choice here.

There are several groups across Kentucky with very clear positions opposing or supporting the state constitutional amendment. Our hope is to be a resource for voters who are unsure about their position.

Electoral Advocacy 

Here at Kentucky Youth Advocates, we want voters to have the tools and information they need to make the most informed choice. 

Leading up to Election Day in November, we will be providing information related to the ballot process (mark your calendar for our toolkit launch in August!) and will be hosting informational webinars to talk more about what the constitutional amendment could mean for Kentuckians.

Make sure you are signed up for emails to get information on all the action!