House panel OKs bill to allow education opportunity accounts
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Republican lawmakers advanced legislation Thursday to make it easier for Kentucky students to cross district lines and potentially tap into funding pools to help pay school expenses, a measure critics say could threaten the viability of some school districts.
The sweeping measure — gaining momentum in the closing days of the legislative session — cleared the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee, sending it to the full House.
The bill would allow for creation of education opportunity accounts, backed by donations. Access to the funding would be limited to students from low- and middle-income families who attend public schools. Third-party groups would manage the accounts and donors would receive a tax credit.
Private school students would not be eligible for the funding, a concession made by the bill's sponsor, Rep. Chad McCoy, a member of the House Republican leadership team.
The Kentucky Education Association, which represents tens of thousands of educators, quickly mounted a campaign against the measure, arguing it would hurt public education. Its president, Eddie Campbell, said the education opportunity accounts would amount to tax breaks for wealthy donors at the expense of underfunded school districts. He called it “another example of legislators sneaking in an unpopular issue disguised as something else.”
Under another key section, school districts would have to create policies allowing students to attend schools there if they live in other districts. The bill would allow nonresident students to count toward a district’s daily attendance figure — a crucial variable in calculating school funding in Kentucky.
Supporters framed the measure as a way for low-income parents to seek the best fit possible for their children's schooling — opportunities they say are now often...