KY Republicans push for fed school choice program after court nixes charter school funding

Valarie Honeycutt Spears, Lexington Herald-Leader on Feb 20, 2026

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — The same day the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled a GOP bill creating a funding mechanism for charter schools was unconstitutional, House Republicans introduced legislation critics see as another assault on public education.

House Bill 1, filed Thursday and sponsored by Rep. Kim Moser, R-Taylor Mill; Rep. TJ Roberts, R-Burlington; and House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, is House Republicans’ top priority for the 2026 legislative session: establishing taxpayer-funded school choice in Kentucky.

The bill has been assigned to the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee.

If passed into law, it would allow Kentucky to enroll in a program under President Donald Trump’s administration to allow federal tax deductions for private school tuition and expenses. The Education Freedom Tax Credit, which would allow up to a $1,700 deduction, was part of school choice expansion included in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

In late January, Education Week reported 27 states are already set to participate.

Critics in Kentucky paint the move as another attempt by the state’s Republicans to siphon money from public education.

“House Bill 1 is yet another attempt to undermine our public schools,” House Democrats said in a Facebook post Thursday night.

A fact sheet on the opportunity program from the U.S. Department of Education says taxpayers could begin claiming the credit in January 2027.

Under HB 1, Kentucky would participate in the new elementary and secondary education scholarship federal tax credit established for individuals who make contributions to scholarship granting organizations. SGOs are nonprofits that accept contributions and use the funds to provide scholarships for education-related services at private or public schools, including tuition, fees, tutoring and classroom supplies.

Families can choose to use the scholarship to send their child to a private school, pay for tutoring or provide other educational supports.

“Educational opportunity is the civil rights issue of our time, and parents have a right to a voice in their child’s education,” Roberts said in a Friday morning news release. “The federal government has stepped up to provide our state with an opportunity to improve educational freedom in a way that our General Assembly has been constantly stifled from achieving. HB 1 finally puts the Commonwealth’s families first and creates opportunity for thousands of families who would otherwise be unable to access the education best for them.”

States must opt in to the tax credit program, a move House Republicans hope to accomplish with HB 1.

“With our courts defending the failing educational status quo, the federal government has stepped in to help,” Moser state in the release. “By participating in the Education Freedom Tax Credit, Kentucky students will not miss out on these scholarships, which would otherwise go to students in other states.”

Democrats disagree. Kentucky Democratic Party Chair Colmon Eldridge said the legislation would divert public dollars “to unaccountable private schools.”

“Kentucky Republicans must end their unconstitutional attacks on Kentucky schools,” Eldridge continued.

In unanimously striking down the 2022 GOP-backed charter school bill Thursday, Kentucky Supreme Court justices said the state’s constitution is clear: Tax dollars are to be used for “common schools” in the state.

“We cannot sell the people of Kentucky a mule and call it a horse, even if we believe the public needs a mule,” Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Michelle Keller wrote in the opinion.