Nic Clement,mentor to Glasgow Independent Schools Superintendent Chad Muhlenkamp through the National Superintendent Certification Program, speaks at the Sept. 9 Board of Education meeting about the possible impact proposed amendment 2 might have on Kentucky public schools. Michael Crimmins/Glasgow News 1.
By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
In the old South Green Elementary School, which has now become the home of the Glasgow Preschool Academy, three members of the Glasgow Independent Schools Board of Education and Superintendent Chad Muhlenkamp gathered in the library for their monthly meeting.
One of the main items up for discussion — which took up the majority of the time during the 48-minute meeting — was the possible impact proposed Kentucky Constitutional amendment 2, which is one of the proposed amendments voters will see on the November ballot.
The constitutional amendment would allow the Kentucky Legislature to provide public funding to non-public, or private, schools. Specifically, the amendment would add to the constitution a sentence saying “The General Assembly may provide financial support for the education of students outside the system of common schools.”
It is with this knowledge that Muhlenkamp opened discussion on the proposed amendment saying it could make the district approximately a $5 million “hit” to its annual budget as the state would most likely take monies they are currently providing to public schools and give it to private institutions.
“This is a concern for public education,” Muhlenkamp said. “This is essentially the free reign for the legislature moving forward to create vouchers.”
To speak on the issue Muhlenkamp introduced his mentor from the National Superintendent Certification Program Nic Clement, who saw a similar amendment passed in Arizona where he works.
“It’s a blank check,” Clements said. “There are no caps and it is affecting budgets. It’s probably twice as expensive as they thought for vouchers and where’s that money coming from? It’s coming from the public schools.”
Clement said a big concern, other than the potential budgetary impacts, was on the lack of regulations and oversight private schools enjoy.
“The latest that hit the news is that someone used voucher money to buy a dune buggy as part of their curriculum,” Clements said.
Perhaps the most visibly opposed to the amendment was board member Mary Burchett-Bower who, on numerous occasions, could be seen shaking her head. She shared Clement’s concerns about lack of “any requirements for the private schools to take…a special education student.”
“The school systems are accountable to the to the taxpayers by the board, you know we’re publicly elected and the state regulates the schools to watch those tax dollars and there’s nothing that suggest that private schools will be held to those standards” Burchett-Bower said.
Rather than speaking on the proposed amendment, board member Neil Thornberry advocated for looking at the district internally and seeing what they can do, and what they can offer, to attract private school students.
According to the Kentucky Department of Education there are approximately 634,424 students in the public education system with roughly 171 public school districts in Kentucky compared to 72,219 private school students and 400 private schools. Muhlenkamp said this amendment, if passed, will likely effect rural areas more than metro ones since rural areas tend to lack private school options — for example, there is only one in Glasgow.
The full agenda with all the items that were discussed can be viewed here.
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