Right now, the governor picks members of the state Board of Education, but some lawmakers want voters to make those decisions.

As our Clayton Dalton tells us, the bill's sponsor says it's all about accountability.

The Kentucky Board of Education oversees rules and regulations for school districts across the Commonwealth.

The board is made up of 11 voting members, which are appointed by the governor and approved by the state Senate.

But one lawmaker thinks it's time for a new system.

We currently have 171 school districts where all of their boards are elected.

Every single one of them.

This is the only Board of Education that is appointed by the governor.

This would change this board to be an elected board.

Most recently of our last two governors, we've had both sides of the aisle, Republican and Democrat, have sought to control the board with their appointments.

And we saw this most recently with our current governor, where he sought to disband the board and then reappoint all those of his party to the board.

The board in itself and Katie have sought to become more of a control organization rather than a support organization, what they're supposed to be for our school districts.

I think it's time that we made them accountable to the people that actually put their kids in our schools.

Under current Kentucky law, four members of the board are at large appointments representing the entire state Senate Bill eight gets rid of these seats.

The bill actually gives rural voters and rural parents more say in who runs the state schools.

Rather than such heavy reliance on executive appointments from Jefferson and Fayette Counties, which is only really basic fairness in my opinion.

And it will also geographically make the board diverse.

The policies developed well, hopefully reflect the broader needs and interests of all Kentuckians.

In 2021, the Kentucky General Assembly passed a bill requiring State Board of Education Appointments to reflect the gender, racial and political composition of the state.

Governor Beshear sign that bill into law.

Senate Bill eight would undo that legislation.

One Democrat voiced her opposition and her fear that the bill will politicize education.

I believe the party politics have no place in the classroom, and in the nineties, we made a decision to take politics out of the classroom with Kiara.

I think that was a good decision.

A majority of states have made the same decision, including eight out of the ten top performing school districts that have appointed boards.

In fact, there are only five school districts by my research that have partizan elections for their boards of education.

And so for that reason, I vote no.

One Republican lawmaker who supports the bill worries about how money might impact these elections.

Although I do not want to share some of the concerns I've heard from people about third party independent expenditures, money in those races that will have an influence on what voices get out and what message gets heard.

And I think that does give me pause and how some of those races might be decided by certainly appreciate the intent of what you're trying to do with the bill.

The bill passed along party lines and now heads to the Senate floor.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm Clayton Dalton.