The National Alliance celebrates the Kentucky Legislature’s override of Governor Andy Beshear’s veto of HB 9, a landmark bill that makes major improvements to the state’s charter school law by most notably providing a permanent funding mechanism for charter schools. Until now, Kentucky has been one of only seven states in the nation without any operating charter schools. However, the passage of HB 9 will change this fact and lead to the creation of high-quality charter schools in Kentucky.
“Ensuring that charter school students receive equitable funding is essential for charter schools to operate,” says Todd Ziebarth, SVP State Advocacy and Support at the National Alliance. “We are thrilled that Kentucky is finally providing charter school students with the funding they deserve.”
Charter schools predominately serve underserved communities and do an exceptional job at it. Data shows almost 70% of charter school students are students of color compared to about 53% of district school students. Stanford’s CREDO found that in urban charter schools, low-income Latino students gained 48 additional days in math and 25 additional days in reading per year, while low-income Black students gained 44 additional days in reading and 59 additional days in math per year. There is no other education model that works as well as a high-performing charter school when serving students who have struggled academically or are members of underrepresented communities.
School choice is an essential right for American families. We look forward to supporting our partners and allies in Kentucky as they grow their charter school presence. The National Alliance applauds Representative Chad McCoy and Senator David Givens for their leadership in passing this bill.
