Kentucky schools need local collaboration, not partisan politics | Opinion
The famed Kentucky author and educator Jesse Stuart once quipped, “If these United States can be called a body, then Kentucky can be called its heart.” Stuart’s tales of early 20th century Appalachia might seem out of date to modern readers if not for one core truth: Stuart understood that the heart of every Kentucky community rests in its schools.
Today school leaders face an onslaught of challenges, not least of which is the partisanship that warps modern community life. The proposal under consideration by the Kentucky General Assembly in House Bill 50 to make school board races partisan not only stifles community collaboration, but diminishes longstanding constitutional norms at the heart of Kentucky’s schools.
Kentucky’s landmark 1989 State Supreme Court Case, Rose v. Council for a Better Education, Inc ordered the Kentucky General Assembly to “assure [public schools] are operated with. . .no political influence.” Even prior to Rose, in Wooley v. Spalding (1956) Kentucky’s highest court stated, “The fundamental mandate of the Constitution and Statutes of Kentucky is that there shall be equality and that all public schools shall be nonpartisan and nonsectarian.”
The Commonwealth must not abandon its constitutional commitment to ensuring that local boards of education remain non-partisan. Partisanship too often gets in the way of local decision-making and conflates divisive national issues with common sense local needs. Instead, Kentucky should put the needs of students over partisan concerns and focus on the critical task at hand: maintaining a laser-like focus on strengthening instruction in reading, mathematics, science, the arts, and civics to provide high-quality learning for all.
Kentucky must choose collaboration over division. Our schools should shine as an example of what is possible when Kentuckians of all stripes mobilize for a better future for the Commonwealth’s children. We urge all Kentuckians to keep local collaboration at the heart of Kentucky’s schools by ensuring that local boards of education remain non-partisan.
Scott Davis is the Chairman & CEO of Field & Main Bank. Harvie Wilkinson is a retired attorney and employee of the University of Kentucky, as well as the former Chair of the Fayette County Board of Education.
