Kentucky Supreme Court rules that charter schools law is unconstitutional

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a measure establishing public funding for charter schools is unconstitutional, affirming that state funds “are for common schools and for nothing else.”

The 2022 measure was enacted by the state’s Republican-dominated legislature over Democrat Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto. It was struck down the next year by a lower court.

The state’s high court ruled the “Constitution as it stands is clear that it does not permit funneling public education funds outside the common public school system,” Justice Michelle M. Keller wrote in a unanimous opinion.

In 2024, Kentucky voters rejected a ballot measure that would have allowed state lawmakers to allocate public tax dollars to support students attending private or charter schools.

It was another setback for supporters of charter schools, who have attempted for years to gain a foothold in the state. They argue the schools offer another choice for parents looking for the best educational fit for their children. But opponents say such schools would divert needed funds from existing public schools and could pick and choose which students to accept.

Charter schools have been legal in Kentucky since 2017, but none have opened because of the lack of a method to fund them.

Keller, in her opinion, wrote the court was not passing judgment on the efficacy of charter schools.

“We make no predictions about the potential success of charter schools or their ability to improve the education of the Commonwealth’s children, and we leave public policy evaluations to the Commonwealth’s designated policymakers — the General Assembly,” she wrote.

But Keller argued, Kentucky has for more than a century treated education as “a constitutional mandate, challenged again and again...”

“The mandate implicates state education funds are for common schools and for nothing else,” the justice wrote.