Kentucky’s premier political event features debate over school choice measure on November ballot

Two Kentucky lawmakers met in a high-stakes debate over whether taxpayer money should be allowed to go to private schools, laying out the stakes for a charged issue that voters will decide in November.

Democratic state Rep. Cherlynn Stevenson denounced the proposed constitutional amendment as “public enemy No. 1 for public schools” in urging Kentuckians to vote it down. Republican state Rep. Suzanne Miles responded that it would do no harm to public education but would give parents, regardless of income, the freedom to choose the education setting bested suited for their children.

The debate at the Fancy Farm picnic on Saturday dissected an issue that will get considerable attention leading up to the November election, which lacks any contests for statewide office. It competed with the personal zingers and political putdowns that crowds have come to expect at the state’s premier political event.

The GOP-dominated Legislature put the school choice measure on the ballot. If it is ratified by a simple majority of voters, lawmakers could decide whether to support private or charter school education with public funds.

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