[MUSIC] Is it yes or no to tax dollars going to charter schools?

The state Supreme Court makes its decision.

[MUSIC] >> Whiplash, rotator cuff damage, cuts, bruises, a contusion on the back of my head.

[MUSIC] >> A school fight can mean more than just a black eye.

A bill in Frankfort pushes tougher punishment.

[MUSIC] >> There's no stronger group of kids, no better group of kids, the military kids.

>> And see how Kentucky honors the children of those who serve our country.

[MUSIC] >> Production of Kentucky edition is made possible in part by the KET Millennium Fund.

[MUSIC] .

>> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky edition for this Thursday, February the 19th, I'm Renee Shaw and we thank you for spending some of your Thursday night with us tonight.

A major decision from the Kentucky Supreme Court affecting education.

In a unanimous ruling, the seven justices ruled a law creating a funding mechanism for charter schools violates the state constitution.

House Bill nine passed back in 2022.

It required funds be diverted from local public school districts, referred to as common schools, to fund two charter school pilot projects.

In their opinion, justices said charter schools aren't common schools because they can cap enrollment, use lotteries, and operate outside local school district oversight.

The High Court also pointed to strict constitutional limits on school funding, saying tax dollars can only go to the common school system unless voters approve otherwise.

Back in 2024, Kentuckians by almost 2 to 1 rejected a constitutional amendment that would have given state lawmakers the authority to spend public money on nonpublic education.

As a result, today's ruling means House Bill nine cannot take effect and charter schools cannot receive public funding under current law.

The ruling reinforces more than a century of Kentucky precedent protecting public school dollars.

The court's decision was praised by Bridget Blom, who is president and CEO of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence.

In a statement, she says, quote, the promise of Kentucky's constitution is clear to serve every child through a system of local decision making.

Further funds dedicated to the state's common school system cannot be diverted elsewhere without voter approval.

The court's unanimous decision protects the integrity of Kentucky's public education system and ensures accountability to the taxpayers who fund it, end quote.

And we'll have more reaction on today's ruling on tomorrow's Kentucky edition.

Now, there is still more education news coming out of Frankfort.

A decades old system that lets parents, teachers and students decide how parts of a school are run could be overhauled.

School based decision making, or SB councils, came out of the Historic Kentucky Education Reform Act back in 1990.

Senate Bill 152 would turn SB mdms into advisory councils, available for feedback but stripped of any authority.

It was debated in the state Senate this afternoon.

Details in tonight's legislative update.

>> If we expect results, we must empower leaders to lead.

If we expect improvement, we must clearly define who is responsible for achieving it.

This bill restores a proper chain of command.

It ensures that when a school succeeds, leadership can be credited, and when a school struggles, leadership has both the authority and the obligation to fix it.

>> I would say to all of us today, let's not be hypocrites.

Let's not say that we want parents involved in schools, that we want parents to be responsible for their children.

And yet, when it comes to the most important thing parents do with their children, that is, monitor them in schools and make sure they're learning and behaving.

We want to say, parents, you're out of here.

>> Bill 152 cleared the Senate on a vote of 27 to 11 today.

Democrats and some Republicans opposed the bill, citing the positives of school based decision making councils they served or had observed.

Another proposal looks to crack down on violence in the classroom, calling for a one year expulsion for any student who assaults a teacher.

But some lawmakers wonder is it going overboard?

Our Emily Sisk explains.

>> There are reported 25,000 instances of assault against a teacher in our Commonwealth since 2021.

>> Republican Senator Matt Nunn ran the numbers to validate support of his Senate Bill 101, which requires a 12 month expulsion for sixth through 12th grade students who physically assault a school staff member.

The bill also mandates that schools report all incidents of attempted assault on staff, from teachers to bus drivers and cafeteria workers.

Nunn read a letter written by a teacher in his Central Kentucky district who had experienced violence in the classroom firsthand.

>> A student with a history of assault on teachers was moved into a class of 38.

Desks were overturned.

Mine included.

Materials were destroyed.

>> The teacher wrote that this behavior continued for 16 weeks, until one day a physical altercation broke out between two students.

>> I put my body between them and I took the brunt of it all.

I ended up with a torn labrum, scapula injury, dislocated ribs, whiplash, rotator cuff damage.

Cuts, bruises.

A contusion on the back of my head, etc.

I was punched, kicked, stepped on, shoved to the ground.

Despite 16 weeks of documentation showing we were headed for this type of situation, two instances of assaults on me and doing everything I could to protect the student.

My career ended that day.

>> The teacher wrote in her letter that the student was suspended for three days before returning to school, and that suspension was for fighting another student, not assaulting the teacher.

The Senate majority Whip shared a similar story involving a former state lawmaker, along with his support for SB 101.

>> In my first session, I met a representative who was a teacher who had just gotten elected.

During that year, he got in involved in an altercation between two students and took one right to the face that put him in a coma.

He eventually passed away, and those things should not be happening.

>> Minority Caucus Chair Reggie Thomas voiced some apprehension about the 12 month expulsion period, although he ultimately supported the bill.

>> If we're going to suspend for one year a student from grades six through 12 are out of school, then we've lost that student.

It's foolish to think that that's going to come back after year and be a model student.

That's just not going to happen.

>> A Paducah Republican shared a similar sentiment during a 12 month expulsion might be too lengthy.

He also sought clarification on where these students would go for one year.

>> I'm assuming in most of these incidents where they are suspended, that they are going to alternative school, they're not just out on the streets.

>> School district has an option today.

This bill does not remove that option.

They have an option to expel with or without services.

>> Despite some concerns from lawmakers, Senate Bill 101 passed out of the Education Committee unanimously.

It now heads to the Senate floor for consideration for Kentucky edition.

I'm Emily Sisk.

>> Thank you Emily.

Senate Bill 101 does not require kindergarten through fifth grade.

Students be expelled if they act out against a teacher.

Senator Nunn said, however, school districts can have that option if they so choose.

Well, another pro teacher, Bill, was acted on by the education committee today, and it looks to incentivize teachers to maintain good attendance by giving payouts for extra sick days.

Senate Bill 124 would allow school districts to opt into a, quote, sick leave cash out program.

School employees can receive annual payments for any unused sick leave above 15 days.

The staff members would be paid 30% of their daily rate for each sick day.

Sponsoring.

Senator Matt Nunn was joined by the Scott County School Superintendent, who explained why this would be a win for the district.

>> It keeps the best qualified teachers in front of students more often, less need for subs, so less sub shortages, less less likelihood.

There is for teachers in other classrooms to have to cover during their planning periods.

Gives the local districts some tool to to manage workforce and budget.

Again reduces long term debt and settling at today's prices versus versus future.

>> You're giving teachers with this bill the power to take advantage of the compounding power of money.

And they don't currently have that ability.

>> And Senate Bill 124 was approved by the Senate Education Committee without opposition.

It now advances to the upper chamber for further consideration there.

Kentucky is a dangerous place to be pregnant.

Now, that's what one group of doctors say regarding the state's near-total abortion ban.

Today, Kentucky Physicians for Reproductive Freedom presented a letter signed by over $600 600 doctors calling for legislators to repeal the ban.

Our Mackenzie Spink brings us their concerns and the story of one Kentucky woman who nearly died after receiving delayed care for a pregnancy complication.

A warning that this story contains some graphic details that might seem unsettling.

>> Last year, lawmakers passed House Bill 90, which says medically necessary interventions are excluded from the abortion ban.

One year later, physicians are saying it didn't clear the waters and that doctors continue to withhold lifesaving care for fear of legal repercussion.

>> HB 90 was quickly passed last year without input from the broader medical community.

Supposedly to clarify exceptions, but nothing changed.

It only created more confusion and felony threats remain, and this reinforces the chilling effects providers continue to experience.

Could I be arrested for providing life saving care to a patient?

Could I be sued civilly and lose everything my family and I had worked for?

Could I lose my license to practice medicine?

Will the hospital defend me with their legal resources, or will I have to hire my own lawyer?

>> One reproductive health advocate from Louisville shared her experience of nearly dying and requiring emergency surgery because of delays in care for her pregnancy complications.

>> When I suffered a devastating pregnancy complication, I nearly lost my life and sadly lost my baby.

I knew something was wrong and I had to relentlessly self-advocate through excruciating pain and fear just to be heard.

Even in the scariest moment of my life.

I carried the burden of not feeling seen, heard, or protected.

A few caring healthcare professionals later told me the reason I had to wait until I was on the brink of death to rush me into emergency surgery was due to state laws.

Considering the fact that black women face a 3 to 4 times higher risk of maternal death than other races.

Where's the fight for our rights alive?

>> Another advocate shared stories from nurses who have witnessed prolonged miscarriages and other dangerous medical situations they say were a result of the legal restrictions on abortion as medical care.

>> A patient was forced to endure labor for days after her water broke prematurely at 19 weeks.

She stated how do you explain to a tearful mother having painful contractions, whose fetus has been partially birthed in her cervix for two days, that there is nothing anyone can legally do until the heart stops beating?

How do you comfort the family as they feel guilty for wishing their child's heartbeat to stop so they can get the medications they need, just to dilate the cervix and expedite the delivery?

>> Religious leaders from around the state joined the physicians for Reproductive Freedom at the Capitol, expressing their support for ending the ban on abortion in the state.

For Kentucky Edition.

I'm Mackenzie Spink.

>> Thank you.

Mackenzie Kentucky Right to Life opposes multiple bills that would expand abortion and weaken protections for the unborn.

State Senator Keturah Herron says between 2020 and 2024, Kentucky jails reported more than 230 deaths.

She has a three pronged strategy that sets out to improve transparency and public reporting.

Create an external, independent review panel and study response models for mental health crises.

>> On May of 2024, the 18th of May, my son Richard Graham went to Metro Jail on the 19th.

He was deceased.

My son died from Oden, but nobody checked on him and they missed two opportunities to check on him.

>> This issue is not about politics, it is about people.

It is about families who deserve clear answers.

It is about systems that should be strong enough to examine themselves honestly.

The first bill, Senate Bill 208, expands Kentucky's postmodern requirements.

Right now, a mandatory examination is required once somebody is in custody.

However, deaths that occurred during the arrest process or while someone is being transported are not explicitly covered in the same way.

This bill ensures that if a person dies during the process of arrest or while en route to incarceration, that examination is required.

The Office of Kentucky State Medical Examiners is notified.

The information is included in an annual statewide public report.

The second bill, Senate Bill 209, establishes an independent external Detainee Fatality Review Panel.

This panel will review deaths of individuals who are in the custody of law enforcement agencies.

County jails, state correctional facilities, juvenile justice facilities, and contracted private facilities.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 110 creates a mental health alternative community response model task force.

Law enforcement officers are often asked to respond to behavioral health crises.

This task force will study alternative community response models that improve safety, reduce harm, support officers, and connect individuals to care.

>> This isn't just a Louisville Jefferson County problem.

It's not a problem with city jails.

It's a problem in our county jails.

It's a problem in our state prisons.

And so I think that this package of bills that would ensure information and transparency are requirements when the unthinkable happens in one of these facilities, is the first step in the foundation for us to learn from things that are happening and make needed reforms.

>> Stand up for your children.

Are your loved ones.

Don't just let it go by.

Everybody needs to know when this happens and how it happens.

>> Senator Herron says she also wants to ensure that law enforcement and staff in Kentucky jails and prisons have the resources they need to do their jobs and care for the incarcerated.

A bill aimed at giving consumers a break from high energy bills is the first of the legislative session to head to the governor's desk.

Senate Bill 172 hopes to ease the sticker shock of power bills by letting utilities spread out billing to help ratepayers keep the lights on.

Republican State Senator Phillip Wheeler of Pikeville says he brought the bill after hearing ratepayers, especially those in eastern Kentucky, complain that their monthly energy bills had more than doubled.

The bill passed the Senate last week.

State Representative Patrick Flannery of Olive Hill carried the bill on the House floor yesterday.

>> Very simply, what this does, it's very consumer friendly, gives some help to consumers when there is a sudden spike in the cost of energy.

What you have in sometimes very extreme weather conditions, prices go up substantially, sometimes double and will triple and the cost.

And when that happens, it obviously causes a very significant increase for next month or the following month's bill.

This bill would allow for the Public Service Commission, when there is a request from the provider to spread that cost out over a several month period, making it more affordable for the consumer.

If there are no more questions, I move.

Passage of Senate Bill 172.

>> And Senate Bill 172 did pass, and it's now on the governor's desk.

It would become law once it's signed.

Retired firefighters could return to their stations under House Bill 589.

A Northern Kentucky official calls it, quote, critical to bolster and train more emergency responders.

>> We're very young right now.

We have 19 year olds that are firefighters, and we're missing out on some of those mid-levels like lieutenants, captains, training officers.

This bill would allow us to bring those people back into the fire service, especially for small communities.

>> Recruitment and training take time, and when seasoned firefighters retire, cities can lose decades of experience and institutional knowledge.

Current law allows cities to rehire retired police officers under structured conditions.

However, that same flexibility does not exist for firefighters.

House Bill 589 simply provides that parity.

>> The House Committee on State Government approved the measure.

It now heads to the House floor for consideration there.

[MUSIC] Yesterday we told you about Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visit to the Kentucky State Capitol as he advocated for a balanced budget amendment to the U.S.

Constitution.

You can see more about that on last night's Kentucky edition that's available online on demand at Keturah.

But he talked about other topics, including his opinion of fourth District Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who faces a primary challenger this year.

Massie endorsed DeSantis during the governor's 2024 presidential bid.

DeSantis said he was not yet involved in any congressional races, but he shared this about the fourth district congressman and other Republicans in Washington.

>> Thomas Massie did something that I will always have respect for.

And you guys remember when the Covid hysteria hit?

Everyone was like they lost their wits and Congress was actually going to green light 2 trillion of spending without a vote.

And so he showed up and demanded a vote.

And, man, the weight of the world came down on him.

And but he stood strong.

And if you think about it, he was right that the Covid spending started a lot of the acceleration of the debt.

And I think the Republicans nationally, particularly in the Congress, have had problems over the years because they they run as very strong fiscal conservatives.

But yet nothing really changes in terms of the fiscal trajectory of the country.

>> DeSantis also offered his opinion of Governor Andy Beshear, who recently joked on a late night talk show that DeSantis is the last person he'd want to run into at a governor's event.

>> I don't really know much about the governor here.

I saw someone who showed me those comments because I was coming here.

All I can say is, you know, a guy that sends state police to try to block people from worshiping on Easter Sunday, a guy that's obsessed with gender mutilation of minors.

If that's the person that's criticizing me, I wear that as a badge of honor.

>> Yesterday, Governor Andy Beshear responded to governor DeSantis criticism of him.

>> Listen, when when one person is just yelling and you respond by yelling, nobody can hear anything because everybody's just yelling.

Listen, I know how we've led in Kentucky.

I know that in Kentucky, we don't see the same type of division that you see in Florida.

I think Ron DeSantis lives on dividing them, but he is a fellow governor.

And so I hope he has a safe trip here in the Commonwealth.

>> When Governor Beshear appeared recently on The Daily Show, Jon Stewart asked him, Who's America's worst?

Governor Andy Beshear said DeSantis.

[MUSIC] Outgoing state senator Jimmy Higdon started Military Kids Day back in 2017 to honor children of military parents.

He wanted them to understand just how special they are and how the state recognizes the sacrifices they make every day.

Today, the Senate Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection introduced Senate Resolution 103, which recognizes and honors the children of military families.

>> My name is Delta Lee and my mom and dad are in the National Guard.

>> Be it resolved by the Senate of the General Assembly, Commonwealth of Kentucky, the Senate recognizes and honors the children of military families on this Military Kids Day, February 19th, 2026.

>> Well, Military Kids Day back years ago, when I was chairman of the Veterans Military Affairs and Public Protection Committee, one of my constituents, Molly Manley, mentioned to me, we recognize veterans and we Veterans Day, and we recognize all kinds of groups.

But there's one special group that we don't recognize and that's military kids.

And, you know, they make great sacrifices.

Their parents are deployed and they have to move from where they're comfortable to another state or to another country.

So, you know, it's tough being a military kid.

And we want to show them some love and let them know that they're special.

>> It's a special field trip to honor us because it's Military Kids Day, and it's special for us because we have military dad's mom, Nana's, grandpa's grandmas, which are really, like, helpful to us.

And they serve.

And they had to spend their precious time for the world.

My dad worked in the military, my nana was in the Navy.

My papi was in the desert storm fight.

He drives the tanks.

And then it just keeps on going.

>> Your experiences make you a better person.

You guys learn to make friends quickly.

You learn to judge character quickly.

Most importantly, you learn the importance of duty, honor, integrity, and serving your country because your parents instill it in you.

You live it every day.

>> So I want the kids to take away from today that that we recognize that they're special.

We that's that is the main point of this, that we recognize them as being special and that they understand they are special.

And hopefully we impress upon them that public services, you know, just like being in the military, it's a special thing to do.

And so hopefully one of them that will be inspired today to be a state representative, state senator, you know, be governor or even president of the United States.

Anything's possible.

And these kids certainly have a good start to to be good public servants.

>> They certainly do.

The event has grown from around 20 to 40 participants back in 2017 to about 250 today.

[MUSIC] Tomorrow night on Kentucky edition, a look back at some of the events of the week during the Kentucky General Assembly session in Frankfort.

And it's the third Friday of the month.

And that means we go inside Kentucky politics with our big guns, Trey Grayson and Bob Babich, who will bring us their insights on the political scene and a lot of it to talk about.

Join us for all that tomorrow, Friday on Kentucky Edition, which you know, is at 630 eastern, 530 central, where we inform, connect and inspire.

We sure hope that you'll connect with us all the ways you see on your screen, the social media channels, Facebook and Instagram to stay in the loop on what's happening here at KET.

We also love to hear from you by email.

Give us a story idea or just a shout out at Public Affairs at Keturah, and look for us on the PBS app that you can download on your phone and other smart devices.

I'm Renee Shaw, thank you for being with us tonight, and hope to see you right back here again tomorrow night.

Take good care.

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