Overview
- The ruling invalidates House Bill 9, a 2022 law that created a funding mechanism for charter schools and mandated initial charters in west Louisville and Northern Kentucky.
- Justice Michelle M. Keller wrote that charter schools set up under HB 9 are not “common schools” because they operate outside local district oversight and can limit enrollment, triggering constitutional funding limits under Sections 183, 184 and 186.
- The court highlighted provisions allowing charter operators to buy facilities with state funds without those assets becoming public school or state education department property as evidence of diversion risk.
- The decision affirms a lower-court block and follows voters’ 2024 rejection in all 120 counties of a constitutional amendment that would have permitted funding outside the common-school system.
- A concurring opinion said any path to publicly funded charters requires a constitutional amendment or a voter-approved tax, drawing praise from public-school advocates and criticism from charter supporters and Attorney General Russell Coleman.