Kentucky educators said it would hurt counties across the Commonwealth, where 90% of kids, around 650,000, attend a public school.
Last November, Kentuckians weighed in on a ballot measure, Amendment 2, which would have allowed the legislature to spend taxpayer money on private institutions.
Eddie Campbell, president of the Kentucky Education Association, said the measure was soundly defeated.
"It lost," Campbell recounted. "It was voted down in every single county, every single community across the Commonwealth."
The Educational Choice for Children Act would funnel $10 billion per year to states in tax credits for school vouchers. According to the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, expanding vouchers will affect the state's poorest rural areas the hardest.
Campbell added many Kentucky school districts receive 20% to 30% of their money from federal sources, noting the legislation also proposes slashing programs relying on federal dollars.
"All of those cuts means that those dollars have to be either made up or programs or staffing will have to be adjusted to fill the gap from those cuts," Campbell pointed out.
He stressed communities need support providing meals, transportation and universal pre-K to students.
"Making sure that our tax dollars are going or staying invested in our public schools and our local public schools that serve those students every single day without, without question," Campbell urged.
Last week Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order creating the Team Kentucky pre-K for All Advisory Committee, made up of more than two dozen lawmakers, parents and community leaders from across the Commonwealth.