LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Jefferson County Public School Board is suing the Department of Education hoping to overturn a Kentucky law requiring the district to build a charter school.
The proposal dates back to 2017 but was passed last session.
The law allows charter schools, which are independent schools and not public, to be funded using taxpayer money.
The law was amended last session and now requires JCPS to create at least one charter school.
Charter schools are not subject to the same oversight and curriculum as regular public schools.
The general assembly passed House Bill 9 in 2022 which created a pathway for charter schools to be funded with tax payer dollars.
This funding is what JCPS's school board is hoping to overturn.
The lawsuit claims HB9 is in direct violation of the Kentucky constitution.
In the court documents, the school board says, "the Kentucky Constitution demands that public money go to public schools and not to unaccountable schools operated outside the management and control of the school's district's elected Board of Education."
The Department of Education has not responded back as of this writing.
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