(LEX 18) — As Kentucky gets closer to Election Day, voters will likely receive more and more fliers in their mailboxes. Kentucky Democrats worry about intentional misinformation on some of the fliers regarding Amendment Two.
“There is a lot of confusion and misinformation and some of it has been intentional, unfortunately," said Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman at a press conference against Amendment Two.
Coleman said she has been made aware of fliers misrepresenting her and Gov. Andy Beshear's stance on the measure.
"We’ve been made aware of fliers and walk pieces that have been distributed that say ‘vote yes on amendment 2 to support the governor - to help with teacher raises,’ to do all the things that amendment 2 will not do," Coleman said.
“There’s a lot of intentional misinformation out there trying to utilize our support of public education, our education-first administration, and misusing that, misrepresenting that as if we stand for amendment 2," she added.
Amendment 2 is a measure that affects school funding. If passed, the state constitution would be changed to include this text: "The General Assembly may provide financial support for the education of students outside the system of common schools.”
Currently, taxpayer dollars can only go to "common" schools, which are public schools. But the proposed change would allow state lawmakers to allocate public funds to private schools, if they choose to do so.
Protect Our Schools Kentucky, a group working to "protect Kentucky’s public schools and defeat Amendment 2," believes the measure would divert critical funds away from public schools.
"Simply put, vouchers divert critical resources away from our public schools, where we are committed to educating every child," said Jessica Hiler, a teacher and Fayette County Education Association member said during a Protect Our Schools Kentucky press conference in June. "Funding private schools with public dollars will put a strain on our already underfunded public schools, and negatively affect our students. Period. In recent years our public schools have been under attack, and Amendment 2 - the voucher amendment - is just another example of an attempt to undermine public education.”
However, not everyone opposes school choice.
EdChoice Kentucky is a group working to bring school choice to Kentucky. The group's website lists its goal as "helping Kentucky students."
"The same education doesn't work for every child - learning styles and abilities are as unique as each child," the website goes on to say. "Kentucky students deserve a choice in their education. Education Choice is a common-sense solution."
The group supports Amendment 2 because it believes using taxpayer funds on private and charter schools would provide Kentucky families with options.
"EdChoice Kentucky is committed to ALL Kentucky students having access to the best educational opportunities," the group's spokesperson said in a statement. "Parents know what would meet the educational needs of their child and they should have the access to make that choice."
