Voting for Amendment 2 on the Kentucky Ballot?

 

Several people have approached me regarding this proposed amendment to the Kentucky Constitution.  Since I am the principal of a private Christian School, I assume they felt I was a reliable resource.  I recently attended the Tennessee Association of Christian Schools Teachers Conference.  At that conference I attended a session on School Choice.  Prior to this session, I was unsure as to how I would vote.  With the information I gathered at that session, I have since decided to vote yes on Amendment 2. 

Let me explain why it took me so long to come to a decision.  Simply, my concern this: where government money goes, government oversite follows.  One of the key things about the Christian school movement is that the government (whether local, state, or federal) cannot involve themselves with our curriculum choices.  I was concerned if tax dollars were funneled to a Christian school, that the long arm of government oversite would follow, and they would begin to add stipulations and requirements to those monies. 

Let us take moment and try to understand exactly what this amendment does.  Here is the language of the amendment, taken straight from the Secretary of State’s website:

“To give parents choices in educational opportunities for their children, are you in favor of enabling the General Assembly to provide financial support for the education costs of students in kindergarten through 12th grade who are outside the system of common (public) schools by amending the Constitution of Kentucky as stated below?

IT IS PROPOSED THAT A NEW SECTION BE ADDED TO THE CONSTITUTION OF KENTUCKY TO READ AS FOLLOWS:

The General Assembly may provide financial support for the education of students outside the system of common schools. The General Assembly may exercise this authority by law, Sections 59, 60, 171, 183, 184, 186, and 189​ of this Constitution notwithstanding.”

Currently, the state constitution stipulates that public monies may only be used for public schools.  This amendment would simply change the wording of the constitution to say that the legislature (the General Assembly) may use public monies to support the education of students not in the public school system. 

This amendment does not take any money away from public schools.  This amendment does not set up school choice in the commonwealth of Kentucky.  This amendment does not change anything that is currently being done. 

This bill simply gives the legislature the authority to begin investigating, to begin discussing, and at a future point in time craft legislation that brings school choice to the Commonwealth. At this point, the legislature cannot even discuss school choice officially.

Twenty-nine states of our Union currently have a form of school choice, whether it is a voucher program, an Educational Savings Accounts (ESA for short, think a Health Savings Account, but for educational expenses) or a tax credit system, these states are making school choice work for them.

I am planning on voting yes on amendment two.  I hope it passes, simply because our children and grandchildren deserve the best opportunities that we can provide them.  We need to allow our legislature the authority to investigate school choice for the commonwealth. 

With my yes vote, I am obligating myself to hold the legislature’s feet to the fire so that they craft the absolute best school choice legislation that does the following:  1) Allows parents to chose the method of education that works best for their children, 2) Maintains the integrity of whichever method of school choice is implemented (making sure the money is used for education),  3) Protects the religious liberty of private, religious schools, and 4) Maintains a proper level of funding for our public school systems. 

I want our Kentucky schools, whether private or public, whether charter or magnet, whether religious or secular to be the best they can be for our children’s sake.  Don’t our children deserve the best opportunities that we can afford them?   

Let me introduce you to George. . .

 As you may know, several years ago, my family jumped into the world of foster care.  For these last years, it’s been babies, babies, toddlers, a nine-year-old, a four-year-old and a couple of seven-year-olds.  Yes, the babies were tough at night, and the goodbyes were heartbreaking, but the joy of watching these tiny strangers grow physically and grow into our hearts made all the trials and tribulations well worth it. 

About a month ago, we entered a new phase of foster care.  We have had some teenagers spend a night or two on our couch until they could be placed in a foster home.  I would like to share a little bit of their stories with you. 

Let me introduce you to a young man named George.  A teenager, not from around here.  English was not his first language. George and a family member were driving through when  a routine traffic stop resulted in an unfortunate discovery.  The family member had some legal issues in another jurisdiction.  George was in a predicament.  The officers called DCBS and at 1:00 in the morning, our phone rang.  Our worker asked us, can you let George sleep on your couch tonight?  His parents cannot come and get him, and we don’t have any other place for him.  We said yes.  If we had said no, he would have either stayed at the DCBS office all night, or worse, the police station.  George got to our house about 2:00 AM.  Scared.  Alone.  English not being his first language, he struggled a bit to communicate.  The first question he asked me?  “Where am I?” His second?  "What’s the address of the police."  George stayed with us about 10 hours.  We made him breakfast, nothing fancy, scrambled eggs and toast.  He was grateful.  The worker picked him up and took George home.

A little after this, we got a call about a 17-year-old boy named, yep, George.  George had been in and out of foster care most of his life.  He needed a place to stay until his worker could find him a new placement.  Once again, our couch was put in play.   George came to our home with all his worldly possessions in two large garbage bags.  Yes, two large garbage bags.  We talked with George.  He wasn’t sure what was going to happen to him.  He turned 18 in a couple of months and would age out of the system.  He had no family.  He had no support.  I was broken-hearted at the thought of what might happen to George when he left our home if he didn’t have a place to go, a family that would take him in even after he aged out. 

This last Saturday, my wife called me while I was working at the church.  Our worker called.  There was a young man who needed a place to stay over the weekend, so he didn’t have to sleep in the office.  His name, too, was George.  George had been in and out of the system most of his young life.  He is 15 years old.  He bounced from private homes to group homes.  He wound up on our couch because no one wanted him.  I talked quite a bit with George over the weekend, but he really talked to my wife.  He told her that all he wanted was a foster family in Simpson County to take him in, to go to school, and to be able to see his sister.  George slept on our couch for a couple of nights.  He became a part of our family.  As I told him goodbye, I teared up.  All day, I wondered what would happen to George when he left our home.  Later, I told Laura that if we had a bed, we would have kept George.  She readily agreed.   

Obviously, their names weren’t George.  These three boys are completely different people with unique stories.  Here’s the problem, in Kentucky, there are hundreds, if not thousands of Georges.  Teenagers that no one wants.  Teenagers that have problems.  Teenagers that have been through drama and through trauma.  Teenagers that are about to age out of the system with no clue what’s going to happen next.  Teenagers that just want a place to call home with a family that wants them.   Could you help George?  Kentucky needs foster families willing to take in teenagers.  Would you open your home, and more importantly, your heart, to help George?  If you’re interested, let me know.  We’ll talk about how you can help George.