Jefferson Review

"Your Liberty is Our Interest"

Home /  Archives / Links / Quotes / Book Reviews / Advertise /Contact us / Subscribe / Calendar

Rally highlights growing support for school choice

(FRANKFORT, Ky.) — Parents, pastors, legislators, community leaders and residents from throughout the commonwealth assembled last Thursday at a school-choice rally in the Capitol Rotunda to support more educational alternatives for Kentucky families.

“We are looking for alternatives,” said the Rev. Louis Coleman, who along with retired University of Louisville professor Joseph McMillan represented Louisville’s Justice Resource Center at the rally. “We are seeking, and will keep searching, until we find alternatives that directly – and positively – impact all of our youth, especially our poor and minorities.”

School-choice bills filed in the General Assembly include House Bill 597, called “Jerad’s Bill,” which would provide scholarships for Kentucky’s 109,000 special-needs students.

Rep. Stan Lee, R-Lexington, sponsored the bill with co-sponsors Reps. Scott Brinkman, R-Louisville, and Brad Montell, R-Shelbyville.

Lee said it’s time to “consider a solution other than just more funding” to improve public schools. He supports innovative ideas such as more choices for parents to provide education and services for learning-disabled students.

Lee also introduced HB 578, which would allow the creation of charter schools in Kentucky. Charter schools are nonsectarian public schools of choice that operate with freedom from many regulations that apply to traditional public schools. In return, these schools’ charters promise higher levels of academic achievement.

The 4,100 charter schools now open in 40 other states show great promise for helping improve students’ educational opportunities. Kentucky’s students deserve the same opportunities.

Leaders at today’s rally said charter schools would also encourage more parental involvement in education – a missing element in many traditional public schools.

“It’s time that our public-education system has a new mix that allows for the village to be comprehensively involved in the education of our children,” said Pastor Jerry Stephenson, chairman of the Values Coalition USA and minister of Louisville’s Midwest Church of Christ. “The concept of charter schools embraces neighborhoods, the business and faith communities and extended families. It takes a village not only to raise a child but to educate a child.”

For interview information, contact Jim Waters, director of policy and communications for the Bluegrass Institute. He can be reached at (270) 782-2140 or jwaters@bipps.org.

Weather (Louisville) / Mapquest /  White Pages / Business Search / CNN / Dictionary / E-card / MSN