Health advocates say Amendment 2 would take money away from public education and health-related support programs

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

Health advocates gathered in Lexington on Wednesday to voice their strong opposition to Amendment 2. They said that if passed, funds would be diverted from much-needed school health and nutrition programs that have been proven to improve student outcomes.

Amendment 2 is a question on next month’s ballot asking whether voters want to amend the Kentucky Constitution to allow public tax dollars to go to private schools.

“Why is this a health issue?” you may ask. Well, because education is one of the most important predictors of health outcomes,” said Ben Chandler, president and CEO of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.

“People with more education live longer and healthier lives. They are more likely to have access to quality healthcare, secure well-paying jobs and thereby have the opportunity to live in a healthier environment,” he said. “That is why it is critical that every child can receive a quality education, and a properly funded public school system is the only way to ensure this access for all children, not just a few.”

Chandler said passage of Amendment 2 would allow state legislatures to redirect public funds to private schools through mechanisms such as vouchers, education savings accounts and scholarship tax credits.

“And while we may not know exactly what implementation would look like, it would likely result in the draining of resources from our already underfunded public schools,” he said.

Supporters of the change say it will improve education by allowing parents to decide where to send their children to school.

Implications for disability

Sheila Schuster, representative of the Kentucky Mental Health Coalition and the 874K Disability Coalitionsaid she was particularly concerned about the impact of the change on students with disabilities.

She said that Kentucky Department of Education reports that one in six students has a disability that required special services during the 2022-23 school year.

“These 109,749 students who would fill Rupp Arena five times have rights under federal law, rights that require public schools to provide certain services and accommodations these students need to reach their full potential, but these same rights are not required or guaranteed.” in private schools,” said Schuster, a licensed psychologist.

Schuster also pointed out that private schools can self-select their students and that research from the University of Kentucky shows this is happening.

“Because private schools are not required to comply with state and federal anti-discrimination regulations protecting students with disabilities, these schools are free to select students they want to enroll in states with vouchers,” she said.

Impact of food insecurity

Dustin Pugel, political director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policyspoke about the critical role that public schools play in addressing food insecurity and noted that school funding is needed to supplement federal funding used to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students in Kentucky’s 550 schools, who participate in the Community Eligibility Provision program.

“A reduction in state funding for public education due to a voucher program would jeopardize the ability of schools to provide this service,” he said.

Why is this important? Research shows that school meals improve student health, including obesity rates and behavioral and mental health. School meals have also been shown to improve academic performance, including fewer tardies, fewer disciplinary problems and better scores on math and reading tests, Pugel said.

“Sipping money from public schools to provide taxpayer-funded voucher programs for private education not only creates a two-tier education system, but also widens the hunger gap that we as a community have faced for too long,” he said. “Let’s keep children healthy and fed by saying no to Amendment 2 this November.”

Impact on healthcare

Emily Beauregard, director of Kentucky Voices for Healthsaid diverting funds from public schools to private schools could result in significant financial losses that could impact funding for school-based health programs – where many public children receive their health care.

She urged Kentuckians to consider how these budget cuts would impact school health programs, including school nursing programs, health screenings, counseling and mental health services.

“Public schools provide the best and most consistent access to health care, and that is important because healthy students make better learners and better learners have better health outcomes in adulthood,” she said.

Other concerns

As for the argument that Amendment 2 gives parents more choice in where their children go to school, Chandler and Beauregard pointed out that a voucher program that allows taxpayer money to go to private schools does not level the playing field.

“Vouchers rarely cover the entire cost of tuition for a private school, making them less accessible to low-income families,” Chandler said.

Beauregard added: “We know that simply giving a school voucher to a family that is structurally impoverished is not a solution. As might be expected, similar programs in other states primarily benefit wealthier families already enrolled in private schools. In fact, the majority of voucher users in other states have never attended public school.”

Chandler and Pugel talked about how redirecting tax dollars to private schools would hit rural communities the hardest.

“We know that more than half of the counties in Kentucky have no private options and are still seeing their budgets cut,” Pugel said. “So it is primarily our rural districts that are harmed by this.”

Asked why sending money to private schools was a problem because it would result in fewer children having to attend public schools, Pugel said the fixed costs, such as building maintenance and staffing, are independent of the number of students at the school would remain the same Schools would have less money to cover those costs, adding: “So they have to stretch a small amount of money further.”

Kentucky Health News is an independent news service of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based at the University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media, with support from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.