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Where is Gov. Fletcher when Kentucky parents need him the most?

By Joel Peyton

Four years ago, President Bush championed education tax credits, a school-choice option intended to benefit America’s schoolchildren. A letter supporting the idea signed by former U.S. Rep. Ernie Fletcher and 14 of his GOP colleagues proclaimed:

“We support the President’s proposal because we believe America should be a land of equal educational opportunity. Regardless of income or other factors, parents with children in chronically failing schools should (be) able to choose the best school possible for their children. Low-income parents in disadvantaged communities with failing schools should have the same education choices that affluent parents have. Giving all parents this choice will broaden the escape route for students trapped in failing schools. It will also energize the public education system and spur struggling schools to succeed.”

In a Sept. 10, 2003 article covering the House’s passage of the D.C. voucher bill by a single vote, the Washington Post reported: “Fletcher said in a statement that he switched sides after the bill’s sponsors agreed to switch sides after the bill’s sponsors agreed to negotiate with the Senate to make the vouchers available only to low income children who are ‘trapped in a failing school.’”

It’s apparent from the letter he signed and coverage of the historic school-choice voucher bill that then-Rep. Fletcher, who was elected governor of Kentucky in 2003, saw the need to assist thousands of children in low-income households in the nation’s capital. The law now provides up to 1,700 scholarships for low-income children at a cost of $12 million per year.

If Gov. Fletcher thought school choice was good for Washington, D.C., why shouldn't it be good for Kentucky, too?

In Jefferson County, Kentucky’s largest school district, four schools are classified as fourth tier, meaning they have failed to meet education standards for five consecutive years. Children in these schools have no way to escape from this mire of mediocrity. Where is the former Rep. Fletcher when Kentucky parents need him?

After nearly two years in office, Gov. Fletcher has done nothing to ensure that Kentucky’s low-income children are any closer to escaping from our state’s failing public schools.

Other governors have taken the lead in providing more education options for parents. Most recently, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat, backed a successful bipartisan measure increasing the Milwaukee school-voucher enrollment cap from 15,000 to 22,500 students.

New York Gov. George Pataki, a Republican, has also shown leadership on the school-choice issue, including proposing a $500 education tax credit offering children in poorly performing schools in his state a way out. Other education tax-credit bills that enjoy bipartisan support have also been introduced in New York’s legislature.

Jeb Bush and Mark Sanford, governors of Florida and South Carolina respectively, have both taken bold stands in support of school choice. Despite vicious political backlashes, these strong leaders have refused to waver in support of their state’s families.

Both of these governors realize that giving parents more educational options results in better schools. Bush, in particular, has taken a bold stand against the recent, regrettable decision by the Florida Supreme Court ruling that the Sunshine State’s voucher law is unconstitutional.

Gov. Fletcher missed an opportunity during the 2006 legislative session to renew his commitment to advancing educational liberty by helping Kentucky students stuck in failing schools. Republican Mike Harmon and Democrat Jim Gooch authored corporate tax-credit bills in the Kentucky House of Representatives.

If one of these bills had passed, corporations could provide scholarships to public and nonpublic schools, enabling children who are floundering in Kentucky’s failing schools to enroll in a school their parents believe will educate them better. Why has the Fletcher administration been so silent in light of the governor’s previous commitment to low-income students in our nation’s capital?

Section 183 of Kentucky’s constitution states: “The General Assembly shall, by appropriate legislation, provide for an efficient system of common schools throughout the State.”

Surely Fletcher would agree that maintaining an education system in which thousands of Kentucky’s children are stranded in failing schools is inefficient. As a result, he should join with supportive legislators and thousands of parents to secure more educational choice for Kentucky’s low-income children.

– Joel Peyton is a research analyst for the Bluegrass Institute (www.bipps.org), Kentucky’s free-market think tank.

The Bluegrass Institute is an independent research and educational institution offering free-market solutions to Kentucky's most pressing problems.

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