What are you actually voting on?

ERLANGER, Ky. — Kentucky's controversial Amendment 2 came into the spotlight Monday night at a community discussion hosted by LINK nky — just weeks before voters decide whether to amend the state's constitution to change where public tax dollars are spent on education.

Conversations between the four panel members were largely dominated by Bridget Blom, president and CEO of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, and Jim Waters, president of the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions.

Waters argued forcefully for passage of the amendment, while Blom argued passionately against opening the door to using taxpayer dollars for private education, which passage of Amendment 2 would open the door to.

Former teacher Colette Cole-Sanger stormed out of the forum early.

“It was a very one-sided panel,” Cole-Sanger said.

She was deeply opposed to the amendment's passage, saying that the other two panelists' comments on national school choice issues resulted in a three-to-one bias against passage of Amendment 2.

“There was no equal time, and I thought that was undemocratic,” Cole-Sanger said.

PREVIOUS | Democrats say the future of public schools is at risk, Republicans say parents are getting more power

WCPO turned to political scientist Stephen Voss to clarify what passage of Amendment 2 would actually mean outside of the debates.

“The language itself doesn’t do much,” Voss said. “Amendment 2 simply removes the constitutional barriers to funding education with public money through channels other than the general public education system.”

Voss said voices opposed to the change will continue to promise that it will lead to private schools being funded with taxpayer dollars, and supporters of the change will guarantee that education will be improved by giving parents more choice about where to go they send their children.

He said neither was entirely true.

“Strictly speaking, neither of them is telling the truth because something else would have to happen for the good or bad results of Amendment 2 to occur. A law would still have to be passed,” said Voss.

The amendment would add the phrase “The General Assembly may provide financial support for the education of students outside the public school system” to the state constitution.

According to Voss, the Constitution as currently written prohibits the use of public funds outside of public schools, but the constitutional amendment as currently written would not automatically result in public funds going to anything other than public schools, Voss said.

Because of language currently contained in the Constitution, the state legislature's funding formulas have been repeatedly rejected by the state Supreme Court.

LINK nky reporter Nathan Granger said the conversation at the Erlanger branch of the Kenton County Library was crucial to better understanding the larger implications of passing or failing.

“This affects the entire state. “In addition, this topic has sparked a lot of passion,” said Granger.

The Forum conducted a quick poll at the beginning and end of the event about what on-site and online viewers thought about Amendment 2, and the poll found that opinions remained virtually unchanged.