NEWS

Matt Bevin touts charter schools to pastors

Kirsten Clark
@kirstenlmclark
Gov. Matt Bevin says that we owe students choices as he discussed charter schools at the Christ Temple Christian Life Center in the West End.  
Dec. 29, 2015

A group of pastors invited Gov. Matt Bevin to west Louisville Tuesday evening, pressing him on whether he would follow through on his campaign promise to push for a charter school law in Kentucky.

“If this was a popular thing politically to talk about, this place would be packed,” Bevin said to a crowd of roughly 100 pastors and community members that gathered at Christ Temple Christian Life Center near Shawnee. “If we were willing to talk about these things to run, we’re sure as blazes not going to back off them now that the people have chosen us to represent them.”

The Kentucky Pastors in Action Coalition has in previous years supported bringing charter schools to Louisville as a way to improve the lives of African-American and low-income families through access to quality education.

Republican lawmakers have for years attempted to pass legislation for charter schools — which are publicly funded and held accountable for student performance but free from many requirements to which traditional public schools are held — but the notion has in recent years failed to gain traction in the Kentucky House, controlled by Democrats.

The coalition hopes this year, with Bevin as governor and a shifting political makeup in the Kentucky House, will be different.

"If you’re going to go to war, you need a general … to lead the charge,” said Pastor Jerry Stephenson of Midwest Church of Christ.

Charter schools opposed in JCPS agenda

Bevin is a supporter of charter schools, most recently pledging in his inaugural address to push charter school legislation as a way to give parents and students alternatives to failing schools. Earlier this month, Bevin also appointed longtime charter school advocate Hal Heiner as the secretary of his Education and Workforce Development Cabinet.

Stephenson and has been a longtime supporter of charter schools, called Bevin’s visit “historic,” saying Bevin is the first sitting governor for whom it was a priority to sit down with west Louisville residents.

Outside the center, an “ad hoc” group of about 25 educators and other citizens rallied to express concerns that charter schools will siphon resources away from traditional public schools and circumvent the transparency expected of public schools. Chris Harmer, who is a member of interfaith group Fellowship of Reconciliation and has worked with the Ditch the Gap Coalition, said several protesters tried to enter the event but were escorted out.

When asked about this during a press conference following the meeting with pastors, Bevin said the event was a public meeting, as far as he knew, and had not heard of anyone being turned away.

However, Bevin was critical of those who opposed charter schools, specifically calling out the Kentucky Education Association and teachers unions as caring more about “maintaining control of power” than “doing right by our children.”

“We deserve better than that,” he said. “And our children deserve better than that.”

The issue of charter schools is expected to arise in the upcoming legislative session, which begins Jan. 6.

Reporter Kirsten Clark can be reached at (502) 582-4144.Follow the Courier-Journal’s education team on Facebook at Facebook.com/SchooledCJ.