Kentucky Supreme Court rules against controversial education bill

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) — The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled against a controversial education bill on Thursday that passed in 2021.

The bill, known as House Bill 563 or the Education Opportunity Account Act, allowed taxpayers to donate to account-granting organizations, which would then go into education opportunity accounts, set up for students to use for private school funding. Opponents, like Gov. Andy Beshear, said the bill would take money away from public schools.

“Today’s ruling by the Kentucky Supreme Court couldn’t be more clear: state funding for private or charter schools is unconstitutional – period. It’s time for the General Assembly to invest in our public schools, our teachers and our children. ^AB,” Beshear wrote in a tweet today.

The bill narrowly passed with support from the majority Republican legislature.

The state Supreme Court said the bill violates the Kentucky Constitution by “raising or collecting of ‘sum[s]’ for ‘education other than in common schools,'” more specifically Section 184.

“This simple but expansive language chosen by the drafters of our Kentucky Constitution avoids the need to determine what exactly is a “public fund” or “appropriation” and instead focuses on the actions of those acting on behalf of the Commonwealth, namely are they raising or collecting sums for nonpublic schools. Under the EOA Act they most definitely are and, consequently, the Act violates Section 184,” Justice Lisabeth T. Hughes said in the opinion of the court.

Read the full opinion of the court by clicking here.