No on HB208 to Amend the KY Constituion

I need to address HB 208, proposed by Rep. Josh Calloway. His bill seeks to amend the state Constitution in order to allow the state to fund private schools.

Amending the Commonwealth Constitution is a serious matter. It takes a great effort in the House, the Senate and the People of Kentucky working together to make it happen.

Why are we being asked to do this? What is the need for public tax money to be made available to fund private schools? What are students in private schools going to get that they cannot get in Kentucky public schools?

We have strong, quality public schools in Kentucky. They are open to all students, regardless of race, religion or social background. They follow, and often exceed, all state and federal guidelines regarding content and curriculum. Our students are competitive with students all across the United States.

If Rep. Calloway believes that there is a failure in Kentucky schools, if he believes that they are not teaching the right curriculum he needs to identify the failure and take steps to fix our public schools, rather than drain away funds from public schools to private schools. We often have difficulty funding our public schools. We cannot afford to fund public schools AND private schools as well.

It is a waste of time trying to amend the Constitution. We do not NEED to amend the state Constitution. If Josh Calloway feels that there is some fault in our curriculum, he needs to work with the state Board of Education, the Kentucky Department of Education and local school boards across the state.

Rather than wasting resources trying to amend the state Constitution we should continue to focus working together to improve the quality of our already superior statewide public education system.

Thank you for your time.