FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) – As Kentucky voters ponder whether to allow some of their tax dollars to go to students who attend private schools, the high-stakes debate has turned into a test of influence between popular political heavyweights – the Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear and Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul.
Both have appeared in TV ads and main events to press their case on the voting question to be decided in the November election. With no statewide office up for grabs and the state safely in the Republican Party’s presidential column, the school choice measure is Kentucky’s most hotly debated election issue — and another testing ground for a controversial issue with far-reaching implications for the future of the school financing at national level.
Beshear and Paul have entered the fray with gusto, reflecting the wide divide between them on a divisive issue that could gauge their powers of persuasion.
Paul supports the ballot proposal, which would remove constitutional barriers that prevent state lawmakers from using public funds to support private education if voters ratify it.
The goal, he says, is to increase parental choice and increase competition among students and teachers, which would benefit both public and private schools.
“Competition makes us all better,” Paul said during a recent stop in western Kentucky.
Beshear strongly opposes the measure, known as Amendment 2, denouncing it as a “cash grab” that would give lawmakers free rein to direct taxpayer money to unaccountable private schools. It’s a matter of simple math: Such redistricting would lead to less funding for public schools, he said.
“They have less money for (staff) increases,” the governor said recently in Lexington. “They have less money for resources for our students. They have less to do everything we ask of them.”
Paul and Beshear are proven voter turners in bright red Kentucky. They have each won statewide elections three times, while also showing ambitions for national office. Paul ran for president in 2016, but was overrun by Donald Trump. Beshear was in the running to be Kamala Harris’ running mate before she chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
Paul, in his third term in the Senate, will not be eligible for re-election until 2028. Beshear will be term-limited after being re-elected to a second term that expires at the end of 2027.
Millions of donations have poured in to support both sides of the school choice issue. According to AdImpact, which tracks campaign spending on ads, two leading groups funding the campaign had spent about the same amount on ads during the race. Protect Our Schools Kentucky and the Protect Freedom PAC spent about $4.4 million on Tuesday. Protect Our Schools Kentucky, which opposes the amendment, has set aside more than twice as much money in places between now and Election Day, records show.
The Kentucky amendment is one of three school choice measures that will go before voters in November. A measure in Colorado would create a constitutional right to school choice for K-12 students. In Nebraska, voters will decide whether to repeal a new state law that funds private school education with state dollars.
A majority of states offer some type of state-supported program to help cover the costs of private schools.
In Kentucky, the debate presents a clear test of influence for Beshear and Paul, two of the state’s most formidable politicians, said longtime political commentator Al Cross.
“Here they are, ideological poles apart, on an issue on which Republicans and Democrats were virtually in agreement,” Cross said.
This isn’t the first time Paul and Beshear have clashed. The libertarian-leaning senator sharply criticized the governor’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the restrictions Beshear imposed infringed on Kentuckians’ freedoms. Beshear said his actions saved lives.
Kentucky’s supermajority Republican legislature has put the school choice measure on the ballot. The proposal would not establish a policy on how funds can be diverted. Instead, it would clear the way for lawmakers to consider developing such a policy to support students who attend private schools. Possible options include tax credit scholarships, education savings accounts, or vouchers.
The issue is especially sensitive in rural Kentucky, a stronghold of the Republican Party where public schools are the lifeblood of the community and typically among the largest employers.
Opponents of the ballot measure are making a concerted effort to win over rural voters. Beshear warns that the areas “would be most affected by those described as red counties.”
“If Amendment 2 passes, you will see dollars shift from rural school systems in Kentucky to unaccountable urban private schools,” the governor said.
In his pitch for the measure, Paul pointed to statewide test scores showing that fewer than half of Kentucky public school students scored “proficient” or “distinguished” in math and reading. Expanding school choice would allow more low-income parents to send their children to private or charter schools that best fit their needs, he said.
Ultimately, it offers an opportunity to help end generational poverty, the senator said.
“Public schools can and do great things,” Paul said. “But for some of the children who are losing generation after generation to poverty and crime, we need to try something a little different.”
The issue of school choice has been debated in Kentucky for years as Republicans expanded their legislative majorities. Previous efforts to expand school choice were thwarted by legal challenges, prompting lawmakers to push for the ballot measure to amend the state constitution.
The Kentucky Supreme Court in 2022 struck down a GOP-backed measure to provide tax credits for donations supporting private school education. Currently, the state constitution only allows taxpayer money to fund “common schools,” which state courts have interpreted as public.
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Associated Press writer David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri, contributed to this report.
