Kentucky shouldn’t let ‘big lies’ about public schools work on passing Amendment 2 | Opinion

Amendment 2 marketing

I am visualizing the kentuckystudents.org people as they designed the flier in my mailbox.

Person A says: Here's an idea. Let's say voting YES on Amendment 2 will raise teacher pay.

Person B says: Really? Who is going to believe taking money out of the Kentucky public school system is going to benefit teachers?

A says: Some people will. It's worth a shot.

B says: But it makes no sense. The opponents will point out that in Arizona and Florida the public school systems lost more than $650 million each to vouchers. In Iowa it was $144 million dollars gone. Arkansas spent $32 million on vouchers. Who is going to look at those figures and believe that the proposed amendment to Kentucky's constitution will benefit teachers?

A says: But when you add together the people stupid enough to believe that Amendment 2 will increase teachers' salaries and the people who will vote for this because it will make them money and the people who don't care about or hate education – it could put us over the top.

B says: Well, okay. Big lies seem to work pretty well these days. Let's do it.

Michael Kennedy, Lexington

Grading Amendment 2

Yesterday a piece of campaign misinformation landed on my doorstep. It is so misleading that, as a retired teacher of reading and composition, I feel compelled to publicly give it an "F" here.

This flyer (from a Louisville 501(c)(4) called Kentucky Students First) is trying to tell me that voting yes on Amendment 2 will win better pay for Kentucky teachers. It places some statistics and maps next to each other to suggest causal relationships that don't in fact exist. This mishmash of logical fallacies has no place in well-intentioned argument.

So, to set the record straight: 1) Kentucky teachers are underpaid because our legislators in Frankfort are starving our schools and other services so they can reduce our taxes. 2) Vouchers and "school choice" do not automatically cause teacher pay to rise. 3) If Amendment 2 passes, funding will be diverted away from our public schools to private schools, which can only hurt teacher pay. 4) NOTHING in Amendment 2 raises teacher pay. The legislature could do that any darn day without Amendment 2.

Irony abounds: this flyer about public education fails the basic standards of fair-minded debate and high school composition. It and Amendment 2 deserve an "F."

Deborah Gerth, Lexington

Public education

My parents saved and sacrificed to pay for six children to attend private, Catholic schools. We received a wonderful education. If others choose that for their family, they can. I know families that choose homeschooling. That is a choice as well.

My son attended public school in Lexington. I am grateful for his public education. He learned differently than others. I attended numerous IEP and teacher meetings. They made many accommodations to meet his needs. He walked across the stage at Rupp Arena in his cap and gown. What a wonderful day that was!

My concern with charters, vouchers and private schools is the discrimination that can, does and will occur. They don't want my son or other different learners. They want the scholars, the cream of the crop. They must keep their investors happy and profiting.

I have a special place in my heart for public school teachers. My stepdaughter and many friends have chosen this profession. We need to fully support and fund our public school systems, as well as increase teacher and personnel pay and benefits. They're working hard, educating and changing the lives of our future leaders.

Vote NO to Amendment 2. Keep public funds for public schools.

Diane Cahill, Lexington

Flyer lies

I want to applaud Linda Blackford's column pointing out the glaring lies contained in a recent mailer regarding proposed Amendment 2. The mailer came from a group out of Louisville calling themselves Kentucky Students First. The name is deceiving, since saying "Yes" to this proposed amendment would take away funding from our public schools and give it to people who make the decision to send their children to private schools.

Fine, send your kids to private schools; but do not use my tax dollars to pay for it!! Their claim that teachers would get more pay is false. In the 15 states that have voucher programs, public school teachers are paid less because our tax dollars go to fund private schools. The map on the mailer is false because only 2 states close to KY have voucher programs.

If you want to protect our public schools and don't want your tax dollars going to fund a parent's choice to send their child to a private school, vote NO on Amendment 2.

Barbara Rave Plymale, Lexington

Rand support

It should be surprising that Rand Paul touts Amendment 2 as he's usually so fiscally conservative. But he spouts voodoo economics in his ads.

According to Paul, if you take money out of the education fund for public schools and give it to private schools, there will magically be more money in the fund for public schools. Huh? He says it will increase teacher pay. So, with less money in the fund, public school teachers will be paid more? Where's all this extra money coming from?

Voting for Amendment 2 is like buying a pig in a poke. You can't see it. You don't even know for sure it's a pig.

We're being asked to give Republican, anti-public education legislators free rein to do whatever they want to continue to destroy public education. They already underfund public education and then complain about the outcomes. This amendment puts the carriage before the horse. We should wait on giving the Legislature the power to disrupt and possibly dissolve public education until they show us, in writing, what they are proposing and the actual financial impacts on all individual districts. Let them properly fund public schools and then look at other options.

Glenna Brouse, Lexington

Bleeding public schools

Amendment 2 proponents say, "Teachers in Kentucky are paid less than all neighboring states. Amendment 2 will invest more money into our public education system which means more funds for better teacher pay."

Can someone explain how bleeding significant public tax dollar sums from public school coffers and diverting those funds to private Kentucky schools will mean Kentucky public school superintendents, who will therefore have fewer dollars to run their systems, can raise the pay for their public school teachers? It sounds like the proponents of Amendment 2 need to take a remedial math class.

Additionally diverting public funds to private sources lacks private school accountability and oversight. Private schools generally do not have to administer state standardized tests, report on student progress, or adhere to state teacher certification requirements.

Funneling public dollars to private sources potentially increases segregation. These systems can cherry pick who they will "serve" based on religious, racial, or socioeconomic lines.

Actually, Amendment 2 sounds more like a pile of 2 easily found in a Kentucky horse farm pasture, and is not a step forward for overall educational excellence in our commonwealth. Help build a better Kentucky. "Just Say No" on your ballot to Amendment 2.

Gene Lockhart, Lexington

Education choices

Democrats are pro-choice about killing unborn children but anti-choice on how to educate the survivors, or whether parents can have a say in their kids being castrated or otherwise genitally-mutilated.

Jack Buchmiller, Georgetown

Further questions

A recent Herald-Leader editorial about the Warren Regional Juvenile Justice Center and Gov. Andy Beshear's administration's efforts on the statewide problems with the juvenile justice system was spot on. However, it did not adequately address one subject: Lt. LeAnn Kratzer's comment about respect. That statement by her needs more examination.

Why would she feel the men would not follow her commands/directions because of a lack of respect? The guards may or may not respect her, but they should be expected to obey her because of a fear of consequences. If they did not fear consequences, it could be because she would not report them, she was not being supported from higher up, or she had a lack of self-confidence. There was no information in the , but all those possibilities beg the question - Why was she a lieutenant?

Everything in a previous incident about this facility as reported by this paper, this news , the Board's to the point editorial, and my questions about this officer circle a central theme – management. Why did the facility manager not better address weaknesses in his/her staff, and the elephant in the room – this administration's hesitancy to bring more than a few buckets of water to a house fire that appears out of control.

Bennie G. Patton, Berea

School disrepair

I'm writing this letter to express concern and honestly outright disgust with the current conditions of Henry Clay High school. Yes, I understand a new high school is scheduled to be built .... What about the students in high school now? Most will never set foot in the new high school and their memories of their last four years in the Fayette County Public School system will be of rat and snake infested halls, faded and moldy walls, a broken down fence that just has pieces stacked on top of it as it continues to fall apart, sub-par heating and cooling systems, and weeds growing up taller than most of them all around the entrances as they walk in and out of school every day.

While I understand the school board is sinking all funding into the new school, don't the current students deserve a clean well-kept environment? Every day I watch custodians sitting around on their carts talking or smoking while the school is in desperate need of repairs. Have they been told not to clean or repair things? It's an eye sore. I am sad for these kids that this is all they get.

Christina Torres, Lexington

Pro-life

As this tight election races to a finish , I'm voting pro-life, because I believe that's what Jesus would do. He sacrificed his life to save us and provided a model: to lay down our lives for our brothers. In this vein, giving up nine months to save another's lifetime seems a small concession, and I wish I had chosen life.

Instead, I've lived a lifetime of regret, wondering what my child could have been, would have been, should have been. I don't pretend to understand why a loving God creates a child in tragic circumstances, but he alone foresees the future and trades ashes for beauty. I know this first-hand because my youngest son and girlfriend in similar circumstances chose life for their baby. My grandson is so gifted and sweet, and I can't imagine life without him.

Abortion often is touted as the answer, a woman's right, but it is not. Abortion kills an innocent child and emotionally harms the mother, and two wrongs don't make a right. As the most contested issue– life versus death, vote pro-life as Jesus would; since, under God's law, we as a nation must suffer the dire consequences of this travesty of justice.

Kathy Rutledge, Summerville SC