Kentucky

Northern Kentucky Superintendents warn voters about harms of passing Amendment 2 – NKyTribune

Published

1 year ago

October 10, 2024

Northern Kentucky Superintendents warn voters about harms of passing Amendment 2 – NKyTribune

Several Kentucky public school superintendents and other public education leaders came together in Erlanger Tuesday off school grounds and on their own time to warn the public about the harms of passing Amendment 2, the voucher amendment, which will appear on the ballot in November.

“This voucher amendment would siphon public tax dollars away from public districts across the commonwealth – not only in Kenton, Campbell, and Boone Counties – and starve students of critical resources they need to receive the best education possible and help us set them up for a lifetime of success,” said Matt Baker, Superintendent of Walton-Verona Independent Schools.

(Photo from Kentucky Center for Economic Policy)

Baker and other speakers cited research from the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy (KyPolicy) that shows the enormous cost of diverting public money to private school vouchers in the commonwealth. If Amendment 2 is approved and the legislature passes a Florida-scale private school voucher program, it would cost $1.19 billion annually from the Kentucky state budget. That equals the cost of employing 9,869 Kentucky public school teachers and employees. (Read KyPolicy’s report: “The Impact of Diverting Public Money to Private School Vouchers in Kentucky”)

“If Amendment 2 passes, it will upend Kentucky’s constitutional commitment to public education and result in legislation that takes money from public schools to fund private school vouchers,” said Jason Bailey, Executive Director of KyPolicy. “No one knows the harms that will follow better than our public school superintendents.”

Henry Webb, Superintendent of the Kenton County School District, said a private school voucher program will be so expensive because it will first subsidize families already in private school. “The recent experience of other states with voucher programs shows that 65% to 90% of voucher costs go to subsidize families already sending their children to private schools or planning to do so — a group whose average household income in Kentucky is 54% higher than public school families,” he said. “Providing vouchers to that group will easily cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars based on the number of Kentucky students already in private school.”

That money could be better spent on strengthening our public schools, said Chad Molley, Superintendent of Erlanger-Elsmere Independent Schools. “Instead of weakening our public schools by diverting funds to private interests, we should be investing in proven strategies — smaller class sizes, increased teacher pay, universal pre-K, and robust safety measures,” he said. “These are the kinds of investments that strengthen public education for everyone.”

The superintendents emphasized that they are using their own personal time and resources to educate Kentuckians on the harms that will follow if Amendment 2 is passed, and that they will continue to do so.

“There has and will continue to be a lot of money spent in the election about this issue, but it is imperative that voters know the facts when they head to the polls to vote,” said Webb. “Please continue to educate yourself on what Amendment 2 really is — a voucher amendment.”

Kentucky Center for Economic Policy

Source link

Related Topics:amendment 2 Featured Kentucky Center for Economic Policy public school superintendents

Click to comment

Kentucky

Lexington veteran’s remains found in Indiana park

Published

2 hours ago

April 2, 2026

Press Room

Lexington veteran’s remains found in Indiana park

CLARKSVILLE, In. (WKYT) — The remains of a Kentucky veteran who was the subject of a Green Alert were found in a park.

The remains of Jyronna Dione Parker, 54, were found March 22 by officers from the Clarksville Police Department. His body was found in Ashland Park on the river’s shoreline.

Jyronna Dione Parker, 54.(Lexington Police Dept.)

In late 2025, a Green Alert was issued for Parker. This alert was cancelled by the Lexington Police department after they determined he was not at risk.

Despite the cancellation of the alert, Parker had been reported missing from Lexington since Oct 17.

What is a Green Alert?

Under Kentucky law, a Green Alert is issued when a veteran at risk goes missing. It’s designed to help first responders and the public locate missing veterans who may be in danger by quickly notifying emergency management agencies, search and rescue teams, and local media outlets.

Source link

Kentucky

Kentucky legislature passes bill shrinking JCPS board to 5 members

Published

15 hours ago

April 1, 2026

Press Room

Kentucky legislature passes bill shrinking JCPS board to 5 members

FRANKFORT, Ky. — A revamped bill unveiled late on the final day to pass legislation in the 2026 Kentucky General Assembly with the ability to later override a veto would significantly alter the makeup of Louisville’s public school board.

The new Senate Bill 4 would cut the number of seats on the Jefferson County Board of Education from seven to five. It includes an emergency clause, meaning it would go into effect immediately if passed — Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Middletown, who introduced the new bill in the House, said the legislation includes new district maps to be used when voters head to the ballot box this year but added JCPS would be able to redraw its own maps after that.

The bill passed in the House on a 72-21 vote mostly along party lines, with three Republicans (Rep. Vanessa Grossl, R-Georgetown, Rep. Patrick Flannery, R-Olive Hill, and Rep. Kim Holloway, R-Mayfield) joining Democrats in opposition.

It quickly passed 25-7 in the Senate a few minutes later, with Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard, and Sen. Robin Webb, R-Grayson, joining Democrats in voting no.

A copy of the bill was not immediately available.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Stephen West, R-Paris, originally aimed to create a principal leadership and mentorship program. But after changes in the House, new provisions were added that would affect the makeup of boards for large school districts, including Jefferson County Public Schools and Fayette County Public Schools.

SB 4 is one of many education bills introduced this session, several of which have specifically targeted JCPS. Senate Bill 1, also passed on April 1, gives more power to JCPS’s superintendent while requiring the board to focus on long-term strategies.

The bills come as JCPS navigates an ongoing financial crisis, with a $188 million shortfall expected in the next budget. Prior to the revisions, the SB 4 would have required two new members with “expertise in finance” to be appointed by the state treasurer, Republican Mark Metcalf. That provision was removed during deliberations between the House and Senate.

In an interview after the votes, board Vice-Chair James Craig told The Courier Journal a five-member board “has made sense to me for a number of reasons.” It’s in line with every other district in the state, he said, and it can be difficult to find qualified candidates who have the bandwidth in their lives to devote enough effort to do the job right.

“I think given the realities of what the legislature could have done, how other districts are governed and the challenges that we’ve faced, Senate Bill 4 reflects a compromise that should be workable,” Craig said. “… But I have significant concerns about Senate Bill 1 and the way it interacts with Senate Bill 4.”

Lawmakers have listened to concerns he and other education advocates have raised, he said, removing some of the “problematic provisions” that had been floated as ones that could be included in SB 1. But the bill takes power from the elected board, he noted, and gives it to an unelected superintendent — in Louisville’s case, he added, someone who is “new to the city of Louisville in the last year.” JCPS Superintendent Brian Yearwood testified against SB 1 earlier this session in Frankfort.

“In my opinion, voters in the city of Louisville do not want a super-empowered superintendent. They want a democratically elected Board of Education that is accountable to them,” Craig added.

Board members will have a discussion with their attorney about potentially challenging SB 1 in court, he said. A similar bill passed in 2022 was struck down late last year by the state Supreme Court after previously being upheld by the high court.

JCPS leaders and board members have raised concerns about the earlier iteration of SB 4 and the removal of two board positions. Three members of JCPS board — Craig, Chair Corrie Shull and Linda Duncan — are scheduled to be up for reelection in November.

Craig does not plan to run again this year, he added.

“Eight years of intense, uncompensated public service have been fulfilling,” he wrote in a text message. “It is time for me to return to the full time practice of law.”

This story will be updated.

Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com. Reach reporter Keely Doll at kdoll@courierjournal.com or follow her on X at @keely_doll.

Source link

Kentucky

Final gargoyle returned to its perch atop rehabbed Kentucky cathedral modeled after Notre Dame

Published

1 day ago

April 1, 2026

Press Room

Final gargoyle returned to its perch atop rehabbed Kentucky cathedral modeled after Notre Dame

COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) — The last stone gargoyle has been returned to its perch as part of a two-year restoration of a Kentucky cathedral with a facade modeled after Notre Dame in Paris.

The rehab project at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption was sorely needed to repair deteriorated stone, metal and glass that adorns the limestone exterior. The project included 32 recreated gargoyles along with repairs of deteriorated finials, arches and balustrades.

The 125-year-old church, in Covington just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, offers the experience of a European gothic cathedral in the Midwest, said the Very Rev. Ryan Maher, the cathedral’s rector. The cathedral has an “intimate connection to what is really the most popular and most well-known cathedral outside of Rome itself,” he said.

“I think it’s very special and very unique,” said Maher, who watched from the sidewalk as the last gargoyle was raised to top of the facade on Monday.

The renovation price tag was nearly $8 million, and most came from donations, Maher said.

Brian Walter, CEO of Trisco Systems, the contractor, said the final gargoyle going in was “a symbol of the accomplishment of all our facade work.”

“That’s a big, monumental occasion for not only people here, but for us. That kind of symbolized the last stone we’re putting in,” Walter said.

Restoration plans grew out of Maher’s discovery in 2018 of a large piece of stone that fell from the exterior.

“We realized at that time that we needed to investigate not only the source of that one piece of stone that had fallen, but to take a look at the overall facade of the cathedral,” Maher said.

Workers will continue with smaller tasks around the facade, including the installation of chimeras that sit on the roofline, but the heavy lifting has been completed, Walter said.

“This is kind of a once or twice in a lifetime project,” Walter said.

Source link