Education

Amend KRS 65.013 to define terms; expand the prohibition on using tax dollars to advocate for or against a public question on the ballot to prohibit using any resources, and to explicitly apply prohibition to school districts, regional educational cooperatives, and recalls on a ballot; establish a criminal penalty and a prohibition against holding a position of public trust or profit for 10 years for a person found guilty of violating the prohibition; create a cause of action for a citizen aggrieved by a violation of the prohibition; establish a statute of limitations to commence suit and the appropriate venue; provide when the suit accrues; specify damages recoverable per violation; allow for class action; include a prohibition against holding a position of public trust or profit for 10 years for a person held civilly liable; amend KRS 48.025 and 132.017 to conform.

Amend KRS 164.001 to remove the definition of "committee," "P-16 council," and "remedial education"; amend KRS 164.013 to conform; amend KRS 164.0211 to attach the Board of Student Body Presidents to the Council on Postsecondary Education for administration and organization purposes; create a new section of KRS Chapter 164 to codify the existing Commonwealth Education Continuum; establish governance and membership of the continuum; establish the duties of the continuum; provide that the administrative and support staff of the continuum shall be provided by the council; direct the continuum to submit an annual report and establish the contents of the report; amend KRS 164.330 to remove requirement for board of regents meetings to be held within 30 days of an appointment; amend various KRS sections to conform; repeal KRS 164.003, 164.004, 164.0285, 164.0286, 164.0287, 164.0268, and 164.033.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 158 to define terms; require the Kentucky Department of Education to establish an approved list of reading curriculum and interventions that do not use a three-cueing system; prohibit school districts from using any curriculum or program that employs a three-cueing system; prohibit the use of a three-cueing system in teacher professional development; require the Educational Professional Standards Board to promulgate administrative regulations establishing curriculum for each approved educator preparation program; amend KRS 158.307 to require rather than allow local boards of education to develop a policy on dyslexia; require rather than allow the policy to include listed items; amend KRS 164.304 to require postsecondary institutions offering teacher preparation programs to include instruction on dyslexia by the 2027-2028 school year, rather than the instruction being contingent on funding availability; amend KRS 164.306 to specify that educator preparation programs shall use evidence-based reading instruction and intervention programs and shall not provide instruction on a three-cueing system; amend KRS 161.028 to require the board to include in the standards set for teacher preparation programs that the programs shall use evidence-based reading instruction and intervention programs and shall not provide instruction on a three-cueing system.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 14 to elect for the Commonwealth to participate in the qualified elementary and secondary education scholarship federal tax credit; designate the Secretary of State as the sole official authorized to report the state's election and submit the required list to the United States Secretary of the Treasury; require the Secretary of State to publish associated administrative regulations and other guidance on a website; authorize the Secretary of State to promulgate administrative regulations to carry out the program; authorize the Secretary of State to collect a fee and accept private contributions to pay for necessary costs and establish requirements for the administration of the funds; waive Eleventh Amendment immunity for the section; amend KRS 141.019 to exclude qualified contributions made to scholarship granting organizations from allowed individual income tax dedications.