Amendment 2 is a ‘need’ not a ‘want,’ said diocesan superintendent

Bella Young

Multimedia Correspondent

This coming November, next to presidential candidates and local races, will be ballot Issue 2, and the Diocese is urging for a “Yes” vote. Issue 2 proposes an amendment to the Kentucky constitution wherein the Kentucky “General Assembly may provide financial support for the education of students outside the system of common schools,” reads the proposed amendment.

Should the amendment be passed, it will “allow people in Kentucky to work with legislators so that we can look at improving educational options for students in Kentucky,” said Kendra McGuire, superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Covington.

For Mrs. McGuire, the passage of this amendment is not a want, it is a need. “What we see is countless families who struggle to make the tuition payments. Families who are below the poverty threshold established by the government, or very close to it, that it is a great burden on them,” she said.

Currently, every state surrounding Kentucky and 48 out of 50 states, have some form of school choice for grades K12.

“We are kind of pigeonholing the students in K-12. Right now, school choice exists, and state funds can go and support students in preschool programs, it goes to private institutions at the college level in Kentucky. The only group that is not supported are students in the K-12 realm,” Mrs. McGuire continued saying, “We want to be able to help children from the time they are of school age, whether that be preschool all the way through college because it is a vested interest for everybody in Kentucky that every student is successful, that they come out of school well prepared to be contributing citizens of Kentucky.”

Part of what makes the proposed amendment necessary, Mrs. McGuire said, is because no two students are the same. Some students need a fastpaced learning environment, while others need a school more focused on support resources. Without the proposed amendment there is a lack of education opportunities for students and their families.

“As a mom of six children, I can look at each of my children and see the differences in every single child … We know from research that in order for children to be successful and be able to learn, that they have to be able to come into school and feel like they’re welcome, they’re part of the environment. They have to feel like they’re safe, they have to feel like they’re happy and ready for learning. Sometimes students need a different place,” Mrs. McGuire said.

It is important to remember that the amendment itself would not immediately cause change, but rather it would allow for Kentucky lawmakers to discuss potential school choice options. Mrs. McGuire hopes that with the passing of Issue 2, lawmakers will be able to put aside partisans and focus on what is best for the children of Kentucky.

“Hopefully we can set aside this difference between public and nonpublic, and instead we can focus on how we best serve the children in Kentucky,” said Mrs. McGuire. “The children in Kentucky, they all need to be successful, and I think, no matter which side of the issue we are on, we all have the same goal. But at the end of the day if we don’t pass Amendment 2 in November we’re not going to be able to have that conversation of what can be better and what can be improved.”