Lexington Herald Leader: “A controversial law that established school choice for Kentucky students was ruled unconstitutional Friday by Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd. House Bill 563 passed in March, establishing a “school choice program” to allow students to attend schools outside of their district. Proponents of the law said they plan to appeal Shepherd’s ruling. In a lawsuit filed in June, the Council for Better Education challenged the legislation’s scholarship tax credit component, which would provide $125 million over five years in state revenue for private schools. The case was filed against the Kentucky Department of Revenue.
The Council for Better Education represents 168 of 173 school districts in the state. The nonprofit was formed in 1984 and brought the lawsuit “that culminated in the historic Rose v. CBE ruling on Kentucky’s constitutional education obligations,” its website said. The ruling led to major changes in Kentucky public education. In his ruling, Shepherd said the law violates a provision in the Kentucky Constitution that says “no sum shall be raised or collected for education other than in common schools until the question of taxation is submitted to the legal voters.””