Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd found the state’s education opportunity accounts, funded through donations eligible for state tax credits, violated the Kentucky Constitution because the $25 million pool of tax credits cannot be spent for education “other than in common schools until the question of taxation has been submitted to the legal voters.”

A Kentucky judge will soon determine whether newly created education opportunity accounts can help families pay for tuition to private schools.

The nonprofit organization contends in the lawsuit, filed Monday in Franklin Circuit Court, that that portion of House Bill 563 is unconstitutional in Kentucky because it sends public dollars to private schools.

Henry County Public Schools Superintendent Terry Price said offering the “carrot” of full-day kindergarten, which has long been a legislative priority for many education groups, in the debate over HB 563 was “rather absurd.”

Beshear announced his vetoes during a Wednesday news conference.

Exactly what form the House Bill 563 will take in the Senate remains to be seen and will be key in the bill’s path through the final days of the 2021 General Assembly.

The House budget committee advanced legislation Thursday that would create a $25 million tax credit pool to help fund education opportunity accounts despite warnings from the Kentucky Department of Education and others of potential unintended consequences.

The evolving political landscape has given new hope to EdChoice Kentucky as it forms its latest pitch to lawmakers in next year’s legislative session.