Newly named Senate Education Committee Chair Max Wise hopes funding for elementary and secondary schools can be protected during the 2018 legislative session. Traditionally, there’s been a hands-off approach to the state’s funding formula for K through 12 education.
But, Wise says, the amount of property taxes needed to fund schools coupled with job loss in some counties is concerning.
“We’ve got the coal counties in eastern Kentucky. We’re looking at about 15 Kentucky counties that may be losing school systems, of having to close down. We’re going to make some very, very major decisions.”
Still, Wise says most lawmakers want to do all they can to spare education from budget cuts. Wise, who teaches at Campbellsville University, takes over as education chair following Bowling Green Senator Mike Wilson’s move into senate GOP leadership as whip.
