LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky lawmakers are giving a sneak peek into what 2024's legislative session could mean for improving public and private K-12 education across the state.
2024 is a budget year, and legislators like State Rep. James Tipton (R) say to expect a 'busy education session' with major proposals in the works.
He told WHAS11 the issues within Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) will get plenty of attention, especially given the recent bus driver sickouts in Louisville. Employees have cited issues with routes, student behavior, and a lack of action from the school district regarding their concerns.
Tipton, who chairs the House Education Committee, pointed to discipline on buses being a huge problem. He hinted that a new bill geared toward bus drivers could be on the horizon.
"How can we give bus drivers more authority in these discipline types of issues, so they're not facing these on a daily basis?" Tipton said in Lexington on Monday.
At an event hosted by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, state lawmakers, including Tipton, discussed their priorities for this coming year.
Tipton, a Republican, also admitted states surrounding Kentucky have upped their public school teacher salaries, putting more pressure on Kentucky to follow suit.
The newly reelected Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, plans to urge 11% educator pay raises statewide in his upcoming budget proposal next year.
"I have faith that we will put more money into public education to allow local school districts to make those choices," Tipton said, referring to teacher raises. "Whether there will be strings tied at this point, I can tell you on day 58 of the session."
When asked if he foresees teacher salary increases being mandated in any way, Tipton responded, "I think that is highly unlikely, but anything is possible."
Lawmakers also confirmed there likely will be a resurrected effort to expand school choice across the state. It comes after a charter school bill passed in 2022 was deemed unconstitutional by the Kentucky Supreme Court.
This time, Republican lawmakers aim to pass legislation to create a constitutional amendment that would give them more flexibility in implementing a scholarship tax credit program. It would incentivize private school enrollment.
On Monday, Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer said the amendment is something 'that's on the table,' that could be a big priority in 2024.
"That's sort of the one big issue that we haven't been able to have a homerun on, that I'm focused on," Thayer said. "Parents deserve to have choices about where they send their child to school. I think we need to make it more affordable for low income and middle income families to send their kids to private school, if they choose to do so."
For any of this to happen, Kentuckians would have to vote in favor of amending the state constitution for this purpose -- assuming it gets on the ballot -- in the next general election.
Kentucky's General Assembly is set to convene on Jan. 2 to kick off the 2024 legislative session.
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