‍‍We asked students to share how Amendment 2 stands to impact them, their schools, and their educational experiences. These responses have been edited for length and clarity. 

"Everyone deserves equal access, vouchers wouldn't provide that."

I am a disabled student, my school is already having issues providing my accommodations because our facilities are failing. If a voucher program were to pass, I wouldn't have equal access to my public school or a private school. Private schools would provide me no choice because I wouldn't be entitled to the rights I currently have. Everyone deserves equal access, vouchers wouldn't provide that.

-Milo, Fayette County, 12th grade

"My school lacks appropriate funding compared to our surrounding schools."

Each morning, I drive 30 minutes to my nearest public high school. The other high schools in my town are both private schools with costly tuitions. If my school were to shut down due to Amendment Two, that would mean my family would be put into a financial crisis to afford schooling for me.

Currently, my school lacks appropriate funding compared to our surrounding schools. The quality of our educational environment is greatly suffering due to lack of funds. Our building is dilapidated, we have a very high teacher turnover due to pay issues, and we lack mental health resources. If our very few resources were taken away, we would no longer have a school. 

My school is a haven for lower-income students to receive adequate education and flourish academically and socially to be prepared for life after high school. 

-Lacey Paige, Christian County High School, 11th grade

"This lost funding would exacerbate the impacts of the teacher shortage, which we are already feeling."

In Scott County Public Schools, I have been truly blessed to have had many caring teachers, counselors, administrators, and staff who have given me the platform to find my voice and passion for advocating for better public education. Our public schools are the heart of our community and an integral support system for many students, serving us beyond solely classroom instruction. Amendment Two would lead to critical funding being taken away from our school system, draining resources and weakening our schools’ abilities to serve us. If we created a Florida-style voucher program, Scott County Schools is projected to lose $15.6 million dollars, meaning 145 educator job cuts and a 13% reduced budget. Georgetown has no private high schools, meaning our tax dollars would be taken out of our communities to fund vouchers that subsidize private school students in other counties. This lost funding would exacerbate the impacts of the teacher shortage, which we are already feeling. As a student who enjoys the academic rigor of AP courses, my school did not have the capacity to offer four of the six of the AP classes I signed up for my senior year because of this very issue.

In Arkansas, where much of my family lives, it has been reported that 95% of the students who participated in the first year of their voucher program did not attend public school the previous year. I actually have family members who are high-income and can afford private school tuition but still receive vouchers to send their children to one. Why would we redirect money from the 90% of Kentucky students attending public schools to families who can already afford private schools? A vote against Amendment Two is a vote for all the students who public schools are a lifeline for and a vote to protect education in our commonwealth for future generations.

-Ellen, Scott County High School, 12th grade 

"Amendment 2 would take away the ability of the public schools to provide their students with extraordinary opportunities." 

I’m a Junior at Owensboro High School, yet I live in Hartford, Kentucky. I participate in around 8 school-funded after school programs. These programs are an integral part of who I am, and who I will be in college. Yet, Amendment Two would take all of that away from me. Amendment Two would send public school money to schools outside of public schools, and to children outside of public schools. Without public schools, I cannot afford to participate in everything I enjoy doing; my family simply doesn’t make enough money. Our public schools are more than just a school. They are buildings of opportunity, hope, and future. I would not be who I am today without my public school system. They have supported me through hardships, provided me with amazing opportunities, and have introduced me to some of the most inspiring people I have ever met. I would not choose a private school over the opportunity I have been provided. Amendment Two   could defund my public school, strip away my opportunities and competitive activities, and reduce my chance at going to a prestigious college. I have learned so much from the activities I participate in through my public school, but Amendment 2 would take away the ability of the public schools to provide their students with extraordinary opportunities. I cannot stress this enough, I would not be the same person without public schools; I would not love the environment, be active in my community, help children in need, donate to school drives, enjoy a wide range of peers, and I would not be starting my own homestead. 

-Abigail, Owensboro High School, Ohio County, 12th grade

"My district alone would lose 31 educators which is equivalent to all the certified staff at our middle school."

I am a junior at Danville Independent High School and member of the Kentucky Student Voice Team. As someone from a family of educators and an aspiring educator myself, the impact that Amendment Two would have on the livelihoods of educators and public school employees concerns me. Kentucky is facing a teacher shortage at the moment. Many of us have seen that manifest in our schools. Vouchers would only further exacerbate this problem. 

If Kentucky adopted a Florida-style voucher program, it would cost $1.19 billion dollars annually; that’s equivalent to 9,869 educator jobs. My district alone would lose 31 educators which is equivalent to all the certified staff at our middle school. We should be investing in educator retention and recruitment so future and current educators have the support they need to thrive. Vouchers would endanger the jobs of thousands of educators, the most at risk being new and aspiring educators like myself. 

The threat of losing your job is not the only impact of vouchers on educators. States with voucher programs have lower than average salaries for educators. In fact, states without voucher programs have an average median educator salary nearly $15,000 dollars more annually than states with private school voucher programs. 

That should come as no surprise since the money to fund vouchers has to come from somewhere. Reducing teacher pay, cuts to the transportation budget, continued neglect of outdated classroom instructional materials; vouchers require trade offs. As a proud student of a public school and one day, a public school teacher, that’s a trade I am not making. 

- Georgie, Danville High School, 11th grade

"To Inform the Misinformed"

This morning, I saw a sign on someone’s lawn and it put into perspective for me, as a public school student in a rural area, how misinformed the public is regarding the proposed policies of Amendment 2. The sign said “Vote Yes! on Amendment 2! Put the children first!” Given that the majority of children in Kentucky attend public schools, proposing an amendment that takes funds from these schools, which are already lacking funding, will only propagate negative consequences for the overall state and quality of education in Kentucky. Providing financial support for students who attend private schools to allow a wider socio-economic demographic to attend private schools sounds great in theory.  However, the issue stems from the fact that the money has to come from somewhere, and it will be coming from already-instated public school funds. Broadening horizons for education cannot be plausible when other systematic issues already override our communities. Is this amendment about helping those underprivileged areas who would have to worry about travel and tuition, given private school options, or is it about helping the consciousness of those who already have access to such resources? 

- Gavin, Danville High School, Boyle County, 10th grade

"Taking this away would jeopardize not only the students but our commonwealth."

The passage of Amendment 2 will deplete funds for the Governor’s Scholars Programs in Kentucky. 

As a state-funded program, the Governor's School for Scholars program (GSP) is an academic enrichment program that invites outstanding students from all across Kentucky to study the opportunity to engage in various academic disciplines while also encouraging students to build lifelong friendships through community building. Currently, the Kentucky Governor’s School for Scholars ranks first in the nation among all Governor's schools. Not to mention, GSP opens doors for a plethora of in-state scholarships for its scholars, with the average in-state scholarship being over $60k. Since its inception, GSP has remained a fully cost-free program – making it accessible to all  students regardless of socioeconomic background. 

I’ve recently attended the Governor’s School for Scholars program, and it was completely life-changing.. GSP has taught me lessons in a multitude of disciplines in both my social and academic life. From my focus area, I discovered my passion for journalism and reporting which has inspired me to pursue this work in my future studies. Not only did I gain a breadth of knowledge in my focus area, but I’ve also learned immensely from my peers. Surrounded by like-minded peers, I found myself having deep and intellectually rigorous conversations about social issues, which I hadn’t regularly experienced before. I would spend hours with the friends that I’ve made outside of class time, and I wholeheartedly believe that I’ve established lifelong friends and essential future networks. Spending 5 weeks on campus with vibrant students, staff members, teachers, and professors also accelerated my personal growth and drove my love for learning. It was a community where I could take initiative in my learning. I often found myself approaching professors out on a walk or in the dining hall, and it wasn’t out of the ordinary for me to strike up conversations with them about their focus groups like Anthropology, Political, and Legal Studies, and dramatic expression. Along with that, the student activities such as field day, craft day, family feud, and movie nights were equally as important. Those connections and bonds that I’ve made taught me the value of friendships, and for the first time, I felt as though I was included and belonged in a community. It was truly a haven of learning for me. 

However, the passage of Amendment 2 can deplete the funds for the Governor's School for Scholars Program and Governor's School for the Arts program – robbing thousands of high-achieving students of the opportunity to participate in an invaluable program. Students deserve to learn, to be enriched, and to have a taste of what higher education feels like. Taking this away would jeopardize not only the students but our commonwealth. The primary purpose of governor school is to combat brain drain (where talented students leave their home state for better opportunities) but if GSP/GSA ceases to exist, talented students will  move out of state. This will  put our economy at stake, due to the loss of human capital in professional/white-collar careers. I ask that you consider the future generation and the good of our commonwealth, Kentucky.

‍- Michelle, Elizabethtown High School, Hardin County, 12th grade

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