Charter schools pilot program passes Kentucky Senate

FRANKFORT, Ky.- Charter schools could be created as part of a pilot project in Louisville and Lexington, under a bill that passed the Kentucky Senate on Wednesday.

Senate Bill 253 would create a five-year program that would allow a maximum of two charter schools to open each year in Jefferson and Fayette County.

The bill originally created a Kentucky Public Charter School Commission with members appointed by the governor to approve the application and provide oversight. But that portion of the bill was struck as part of a floor amendment, leaving the local school districts to oversee the schools.

The bill would allow the schools to target low-income students for priority acceptance, with extra spots opened up to higher-income students based through a lottery.

With the amendment, three Democrats crossed party lines to support the legislation. It passed on a vote of 28-9.

Sen. Reggie Thomas, D-Lexington, offered the amendment, which Sen. Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green, endorsed.

Thomas said he believes there is an achievement gap between white and black students that the current system isn’t adequately addressing, in supporting the bill.

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Sens. Gerald Neal, D-Louisville, and Dennis Parrett, D-Elizabethtown, also supported the measure.

Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard, was the only Republican to oppose the bill, saying that schools in his district are having enough trouble raising money to survive as families move away and jobs dry up. Siphoning funds away from them would be devastating.

The bill now goes to the House where even Wilson, the bill’s sponsor, said he doubts it can pass.

The Kentucky Education Association has opposed any bill that would create charter schools.

Brent McKim, president of the Jefferson County Teachers Association, said that moving the schools under the auspices of the county school systems improved the measure but he said work needs to be done before the teachers union would even consider backing it.

Among other things, he said, a provision that prohibits unionization of the charter school – even if the district and the teacher union agree – makes the bill “unacceptable to us.”

Joseph Gerth can be reached at (502) 582-4702 or jgerth@courier-journal.com. His mailing address is 525 W. Broadway, P.O. Box 740031, Louisville, KY 40201-7431. Follow him on Twitter at @Joe_Gerth.