Protect Our Public Schools

We are a union that brings people together from all walks of life. No matter what you look like or where you come from most of us do our best to take care of our families and our communities.

In Kentucky, politicians like Matt Bevin, have been attacking our teachers (fellow union members!) for years now. Many times, at the expense of students. We now face a shortage of teachers in both Kentucky and Indiana. How many good teachers left for other states where they would be treated with the respect they deserve?

The latest attack on our teachers, our students and public schools will be front and center in Kentucky this year. In November, Kentucky voters will have a question on their ballot about public education funding that will change the state constitution.

This amendment, known as Amendment 2, will allow public funds to be used outside of public schools and given instead to unaccountable private schools. You may hear this referred to as school vouchers. Vouchers are a wildly expensive way to use our taxpayer dollars to subsidize students already in private school and they hurt our rural public schools the most.

In a recent Time Magazine article, the author, who has studied school vouchers for 2 decades, sums up what research on school vouchers tells us like this, “Vouchers are largely tax subsidies for existing private school families, and a tax bailout for struggling private schools. They have harmful test score impacts that persist for years, and they’re a revolving door of school enrollment. They’re public funds that support a financially desperate group pf private schools, including some with active discriminatory admissions in place.”

Billionaires, like Betsy DeVos, have come up with a nice sounding name “school vouchers” to try to fool Kentucky voters. This voucher scheme will harm Kentucky kids and our public schools.

But we know better. The Kentucky Constitution is the last line of defense protecting our families from this voucher scheme and we must protect it.

Our union is proud to endorse Protect our Schools Kentucky. Protect Our Schools KY is a coalition of public education advocates and allied organizations committed to defeating this harmful constitutional amendment in November on our ballot. Between now and Election Day, we’ll be sharing facts and information about meetings you can attend in your community so that you have the information you need to protect our public schools.

Hard working people like you are the backbone of your community and we rely on our pubic schools to give our children an opportunity for a bright future. We must do everything we can to safeguard our public schools. This means taking action and voting No on Amendment 2 in November.

In Solidarity,
Bob Blair Paul L. Whiteley Jr.
President Secretary Treasurer

Originally Published in the Print Edition of News and Views, July 2024. To ready the full edition click here.