As filing deadline approaches, charter funding bill appears unlikely

A bill establishing a funding stream for charter schools in Kentucky appeared unlikely as the House filing deadline approached.

People following the proposal—including charter advocates, an education policy representative and a lawmaker—said there was little indication that a funding bill would be filed before the deadline. The Senate deadline had already passed without a charter funding measure.

Unless lawmakers made a late filing or substantially revised an existing bill during the remaining weeks of the session, the only charter-related proposals then pending were two House bills seeking to repeal Kentucky’s charter school law.

Observers said legislators were reluctant to address major school funding questions outside a budget year. They suggested that a funding proposal might be more likely when lawmakers next considered the state budget.

The lack of a bill was welcomed by some public education advocates. They argued that directing state money to charter schools could reduce resources available to school districts already facing financial pressure.

A durable funding mechanism was widely viewed as the final practical hurdle to opening charter schools in Kentucky. State law had authorized charter schools, but the absence of an operating funding system made openings unlikely.

Charter funding was a prominent item on the Kentucky Department of Education’s legislative agenda. Earlier reporting outlined the department’s request for greater funding flexibility and its plans to seek a charter funding framework.

The concept under discussion would not have required a new appropriation. Instead, it would have changed the state’s per-pupil formula so that designated state and local funding followed a student to a traditional public school or charter school.

Under that approach, if a Louisville student enrolled in a charter school, funding assigned to that student would have moved from the local district to the charter operator. Critics said districts could lose revenue while continuing to bear fixed costs such as transportation, buildings and maintenance.