What it Looks Like When Governors Stand Up for Public Schools
Examples from Arizona and Kentucky
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Those of us in states led by politicians with aggressive school privatization agendas may not know what it’s like to have a Governor who unabashedly stands up for public schools.
The good news is there are some solid examples around the country.
Here are two of those - from states as different as Arizona and Kentucky.
First, advocacy group Save Our Schools Arizona is highlighting the work of newly-elected Gov. Katie Hobbs.
In her State of the State address on Monday, Gov. Katie Hobbs outlined an incredible list of priorities for public education. On Friday, she released a budget proposal that reimagines what Arizona’s K-12 schools can and should be. Hobbs’ bold budget calls not just for increased investment in public schools, but also for a full repeal of the universal ESA voucher fiasco which is threatening to bankrupt our state. Public education is her stated top issue, and justifiably — it’s well past time for Arizona to focus on these issues.
Meanwhile, prolific education blogger Peter Greene features a note on Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear’s opposition to charter schools.
Readers may remember that a recent Kentucky Supreme Court case killed vouchers in the Commonwealth.
Now, Beshear is planning to veto a charter school bill. Here’s his statement on why:
I'm against charter schools.
They are wrong for our commonwealth. They take taxpayer dollars away from the already underfunded public schools in the commonwealth, and our taxpayer dollars should not be redirected to for-profit entities that run charter schools.
As attorney general, I can tell you the number of prosecutions we had against for-profit colleges, how so many of them took advantage of so many people. And the idea that we would open up that same ability for people to prey on our even younger students is simply not the direction that Kentucky should go.
And the bill would send taxpayer dollars to charter schools that have boards that are not elected and are not answerable to the people. Public dollars being spent without that oversight. And they're not even required to comply with the same controls and accountability measures as our public schools.
The answer to concerns about the performance in our public schools lies with actually funding and working with our public schools, not trying to divert money away to folks that you give more flexibility to than the group you're asking to do a better job.
Here’s more from Beshear:
Meanwhile, in Tennessee, lawmakers and Gov. Lee are seeking to expand an expensive voucher program while also promoting the aggressive advance of charter schools:
