This post appeared originally in the Louisville Courier-Journal. It has since been posted by The Network for Public Education, whose contents are curated by Peter Greene.
Liam Amick: Trinity won’t let me write about Amendment 2. Here’s why I’m against it.
Liam Amick is a senior at Trinity High School, a Catholic school in Kentucky, where vouchers are on the ballot next week in Amendment 2, a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would okay vouchers. Trinity has made support of the Amendment mandatory. Amick would like to disagree, and does so in the Courier Journal.
Every day when I drive into school, I’m greeted by yard signs blazing with the message “YES on 2!” To see these put up at Trinity, a school that generally requests little political discussion at school, was quite a shock.
I’m a “private school kid.” I went to St. Francis of Assisi for first through eighth grades, and I am now a senior at Trinity High School. I will always be indebted to those schools for providing me with fantastic educations and experiences in the most formative years of my life. But to say I am disappointed with Trinity’s stance on Amendment 2 — a Kentucky ballot measure that would allow public tax funding to be used for private schools — would be an understatement.
An even bigger disappointment has been Trinity’s and the Archdiocese of Louisville‘s responses to criticism of their position. When both Trinity’s Student Government and Faculty Senate asked if the “YES on 2!” signs could be taken down, they were told that the archdiocese had asked us to put them up and there was absolutely no chance of them being taken down. Also, the administration doesn’t allow our school journalism program to report on any political topics and or criticisms of Trinity and its policies, so I felt that to share my views I had to look outside of the school.
In my opinion, the desire of non-public schools to support Amendment 2 is logical, but closed-minded. What’s important to remember is that, in Kentucky, 65% of non-public schools are found in Louisville, Lexington and the general Northern Kentucky area. Out of 120 counties in Kentucky, 89 have no access to a non-public school, and well-run, accredited non-public schools aren’t going to magically appear in those counties after the passage of Amendment 2. So, the “school choice” amendment would in fact offer students in these areas no “choice” to go to a different school.
Supporters of Amendment 2 often bring up Kentucky’s 2023 $1 billion budget surplus, claiming that that money will be used to provide funding to public schools and said schools will lose no money. However, that surplus money already has a destination. According to House Appropriations and Revenue Chair Jason Petrie, the extra money has “provided the opportunity to invest more than $2.7 billion over the next two years to improve road, rail, river, air, and water infrastructure.” Although Petrie claims they are also making “targeted investments in school facilities,” the bottom line is that significantly fewer tax dollars would go to public schools, leaving no replacement funding in their wake.
Read the full op-ed here. You can view the post at this link : https://networkforpubliceducation.org/blog-content/liam-amick-trinity-wont-let-me-write-about-amendment-2-heres-why-im-against-it/
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“Trinity has made support of the Amendment mandatory” – a preview of what a Trump presidency will turn public schools into.
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Both parties have caved to the interests of big business since money buys power, and Citizen’s United has exacerbated the problem. Both parties have not attended to the needs of working people, although Democrats have some party members that try to pass legislation to help the middle class. What is shocking is that elitist Trump has managed to convince many blue collar people he is on their side despite a dismal record to the contrary. Corporations and billionaires have an outsized influence on our politics. If Harris wins, I hope she is in a position to enact policies to limit or control the influence of oligarchs that will always put self-interest over country.
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Sorry: This comment was intended for “The Oligarchy on The Rise.”
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Good for Mr. Amick.
I was on the NM Public Education Commission (PEC) for several years. The PEC was responsible for authorizing state level charter schools. At one public meeting in a small town in NM many parents were supporting the proposed charter school.
One student stood up to make himself heard. He had graduated from high school and went on to MIT. But his background is important. His parents were immigrants from Mexico who worked the fields to in order for him to go to school. The student made it very clear that the community does not need a charter school. He said the public school in his community gave him an excellent education and provided him with all the opportunities to prepare him to go to MIT and be successful.
It made it loud and clear that he did not want a charter school in his town. He received a lot of support from the attendees for his comments.
This was the third time the application was denied in this small town in NM.
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