Outside of the presidential election, the vote on Amendment 2 is taking up the most bandwidth in Kentucky, with supporters and opponents rehashing their arguments in increasingly stark terms.
Most notably, Governor Andy Beshear said in a swing through Lexington Tuesday that passing the amendment — which would allow the General Assembly to direct financial support to students. Outside the public school system would be — "devastating." He also said he couldn't foresee a future where the amendment wouldn't lead to either lost jobs or teacher roles going unfilled.
Opponents' central theme is that public dollars should stay with public schools. Here's how Amendment 2 supporter David Walls with the Family Foundation framed his response in an interview with WKYT.
"Public dollars are for the public good and the public good is ensuring that every student in our commonwealth has the best education possible. And that's really what's at stake and about about Amendment 2 is it would open the door to have a robust debate and discussion in in the next General Assembly," he said.
But Beshear said this week that the math used by advocates doesn't add up.
"The state budget has a certain amount, and if you take a big chunk of it out, there's nothing to replace it for our public schools," he told reporters Tuesday. "You're seeing real challenges in other States and again, the simplest way to put it is it would be absolutely devastating to a public education system that already doesn't have enough."
A vote for the amendment would alter language in the state Constitution to allow lawmakers to pass voucher-style legislation if they chose. A vote against would keep the current language in place, which says the General Assembly shall "provide for an efficient system of common schools throughout the state."
