Leaving no wiggle room, Ky. Supreme Court trips up GOP march to destroy public schools

[riversedge]

I am so glad to see this. so so glad.


Leaving no wiggle room, Ky. Supreme Court trips up GOP march to destroy public schools

https://www.kentucky.com/opinion/linda-blackford/article270050587.html#storylink=cpy


By Linda Blackford Updated December 16, 2022 6:34 PM


If you appreciate any of the following things: public schools, public teachers, the civic good, the Kentucky Constitution, the Commonwealth, and general fair play, then the Kentucky Supreme Court handed you a very nice early gift.

They ruled unanimously that the Education Opportunity Account Act — which allows people to get tax credits for donating to organizations that then give scholarships to private schools — was completely unconstitutional. No wiggle room at all. The reason as Justice Lisabeth Hughes wrote is simple: “Applying the plain language of this section, the income tax credit raises money for nonpublic education and its characterization as a tax credit rather than an appropriation is immaterial,” Hughes wrote.


Because the Kentucky Supreme Court is the ultimate arbiter of the Kentucky Constitution, this idea to divert funding from public schools to private ones is now quite dead and cannot be appealed. TOP VIDEOS ×



‘It was pretty straightforward, they took a very textual approach and relied on some past precedents, they go back almost 100 years,” said University of Kentucky professor Jonathan Shaub. “They wrote it in a very black and white principle that taxpayer money has to go to public schools and we’re not going to buy into these tricks or workarounds.”......................

Read more at: https://www.kentucky.com/opinion/linda-blackford/article270050587.html#storylink=cpy





https://www.kentucky.com/latest-news/noib2t/picture266061241/alternates/LANDSCAPE_1140/KY-Supreme-Court-Group-060821_10x8%20(1).jpg
The Kentucky Supreme Court with Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr. is photographed with the addition of Justice Robert B. Conley, Tuesday, June 8, 2021, in the Supreme Court Courtroom in Frankfort, Ky. (AOC Photo/Brian Bohannon) The Kentucky Supreme Court with Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr. is photographed with the addition of Justice Robert B. Conley, Tuesday, June 8, 2021, in the Supreme Court Courtroom in Frankfort, Ky. (AOC Photo/Brian Bohannon) Brian Bohannon

[cilla4progress]

1. Fabulous!

[republianmushroom]

2. about time

[Cha]

3. Kick For Kentucky Dems! TY & the KSC! nt

[riversedge]

4. "we're not going to buy into these tricks or workarounds."..." It is what the GOP

tries--and so many times succeeds in doing.

[riversedge]

5. There was another present in the stocking........

.........Then as another little present in your stocking, Northern Kentucky University, which is the authorizer of charter schools in that area under House Bill 9, put a spoke in another politically motivated shenanigan. They were given the power to authorize charter schools in an extremely sketchy plan to give a wealthy GOP donor a charter school near a planned development.


It was so sketchy that the NKU Board of Trustees didn’t even know about it. On Tuesday, the board didn’t have a motion to accept the role of authorizer. No motion, no vote, no authorizer, no charter school. (For now. It’s possible that superintendents can make their own vote to authorize.)

In a statement Board Chair Rich Boehne said the board studied charters schools generally, and this proposal specifically. T “While I believe there are those on our board who would generally support our role as authorizer and those on our board who would vote against it, there is clear consensus – as evidenced by the board’s lack of action – that the option offered to us, as defined in House Bill 9, is not workable.”

Read more at: https://www.kentucky.com/opinion/linda-blackford/article270050587.html#storylink=cpy

[Snackshack]

6. A small victory.

But the reality of the situation is that the GOP has pretty much already destroyed public education in grades K-12 and as we have seen for several years now is regularly assaulting advanced education At the college level.

Now that the GOP has the house back in their control expect this trend to continue. The GOP will not stop until public education is eradicated and there is only private for profit education that they can control the curriculum of. In order to get rid of the Constitution as DT recently said out loud the GOP has a lot of work to do convincing the country we don’t need the constitution, that the GOP way is better.

[mountain grammy]

7. and yet, despite all their shenanigans,

90% of children K through 12 attend public schools and generally people are happy with their local schools.
The rantings of religious and right wing groups continue to disrupt the system, but will only completely succeed when people stop sending their kids to public school, and I don't think that'll happen anytime soon.
They'll never give up though, and with 6 religious nuts on the SC, bad things will happen.

[barbtries]

8. that's a breath of fresh air.

here in NC republicans have overtaken the state SC and I don't expect good things from them at all. So good to know that there are judges out there who still honor their allegiance to the law.

[bucolic_frolic]

9. They'll just pass a law to prevent learning anything

[AllaN01Bear]

10. eggscllent.

if the other side would have one , would love to see them pay the direct cost and not be able to afford school for their kids . prolly get very expensive .

[NullTuples]

11. Of the 7 judges on the court, 4 were elected. 2 are GOP, 1 is Dem

That says something about the Republican agenda in Kentucky...

[usaf-vet]

12. It is clear to me that all this GOP plans that attack public schools have one long term goal....

.... in mind keeping the upcoming voters DUMB. Deny them the skills to participate in their right to vote.

Call me crazy, but. When they try and deny a ballot because the signature doesn't match the "official" signature on the registration to vote paperwork, might it have something to do with the fact that they are no longer teaching cursive writing in schools?

An excellent way to make sure one signature will likely not look like the next.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

13. K&R

[live love laugh]

14. SO glad they're doing their actual jobs. And well!

[Hermit-The-Prog]

15. Whew! GOP wants to destroy public education and tries very hard to suck it dry.

Thanks for posting this!

Kentucky teachers are under-paid and Kentucky schools are under-funded already.