A great deal of attention and money centered on an education item on this November’s ballot. The defeat of Amendment Two is likely a post-election conversation item for public educators.
Kathryn Decker is in her 15th year in public education. She’s a middle school reading and intervention teacher in Lexington. While a wide majority of voters said no to allowing public tax dollars to go for private school tuition, Decker doesn’t think the matter is gone for good.
“I believe that this issue will never completely go away because people are very passionate about education and they’re passionate on both sides of that coin,” said Decker.
Decker said it must be understood that teachers are not saying you have to send your kids to public schools. She said public schools’ focus is to make sure every student has the ability to get a quality education that leads them to being a productive member of society.
The 15-year teaching veteran said any loss of money could have been felt in the public school setting.
“We already don’t have the funds that we need to provide enough teachers or enough staff within the schools to reach the kids that we are currently serving. So, any penny that you take away from public education is a direct impact on what we’re able to do, day to day. Not only in our classrooms but in our school communities,” said Decker.
If the amendment on this November ballot had passed, Decker said projections put the movement of students out of the public school setting at about 10 to 15%. The Lexington teacher expects the issue of school choice to remain, even with the voter decision in place.
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