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Kentucky Lawmakers Fail to Fund Charter Law

News Alert

April 6, 2017

Dear Friends,

In 2017, as Kentucky lawmakers were patting themselves on the back for passing a charter school law, the National Charter School Law Scorecard gave the state a “D” for having one of the weakest of 44 charter laws in the country. Yesterday, the legislature made history for being the first to ever enact a charter law and fail to fund it. This fact alone will earn Kentucky a “F” in the next scorecard. Where there are no funds, there can be no schools.

Two months ago, out of deep concern over the charter policies in Kentucky, our CEO, Jeanne Allen, wrote an op-ed for the Kentucky Courier-Journal. Allen reminded us that because of the way the charter law was written, charter schools would have to rely on a separate appropriation for funding; therefore, financing was going to be a problem, and Kentucky charters would forever be vulnerable to politics.

This week’s actions in Kentucky make it clear that lawmakers do not value educational opportunity for students who desperately need new college and career pathways. In states with robust charter school laws, millions of students thrive. We cannot expect our children to move forward and climb out of the depths of mediocrity (as we’ll likely see in next week’s NAEP scores) if we don’t fund the necessary mechanisms critical to student success.

Founded in 1993, the Center for Education Reform aims to expand educational opportunities that lead to improved economic outcomes for all Americans — particularly our youth — ensuring that conditions are ripe for innovation, freedom and flexibility throughout U.S. education.