Senate Republican Whip Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green. (LRC Public Information)

FRANKFORT — A Senate committee forwarded a bill on a party line vote Wednesday that would establish partisan elections for the Kentucky Board of Education — a proposal previously called a “terrible idea” by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear.?

Senate Bill 8 would allow Kentucky voters in each of the seven Supreme Court districts to elect members of the Kentucky Board of Education in partisan elections. Nine Republicans on the Senate State and Local Government Committee gave approval to the legislation while two Louisville Democrats, Sens. Cassie Chambers Armstrong and Denise Harper Angel, voted no.?

Senate Republican Whip Mike Wilson, the primary sponsor of the legislation, has previously said his bill is aimed at giving voters a chance to elect “real representatives who have the greatest control over almost half of the state budget.”?

The General Assembly allocates funds to the Support Education Excellence in Kentucky (SEEK), which is “a formula driven allocation of state provided funds to local school districts,” according to the Kentucky Department of Education. KBE is the governing body of KDE.?

“Kentucky needs a board of education that is elected by parents across the commonwealth just like the Senate is,” Wilson said Wednesday in a statement.?

Wilson told the committee the General Assembly created the state board of education, not the governor. He said governors of both parties had politicized the board in recent years.

“I think it’s time that we made them accountable to the people that actually put their kids in our schools,” Wilson said.?

The senator added that he believed having board members elected across Kentucky’s seven Supreme Court districts would allow for more rural representation on the state board. Elections would be held in 2026.?

Wilson also added that ex-officio members, such as the heads of the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet and the Council on Postsecondary Education would remain on the board. Teacher and student representatives would continue to serve on the board for a year. The education commissioner could only break tied votes on the board.?

Chambers Armstrong said while explaining her opposition to the bill that she did not believe politics belonged in Kentucky classrooms.?

“In the ‘90s, we made a decision to take politics out of the classroom with KERA (Kentucky Education Reform Act),” she said. “I think that was a good decision.?

KERA is a landmark piece of legislation that sought to remove nepotism and political corruption from Kentucky’s education system and to increase and equalize funding for public schools.

Jennifer Ginn, director of communications for KDE, said in a statement to the Kentucky Lantern ahead of Wednesday’s meeting that the General Assembly previously made changes to the board’s appointment requirements in 2021 “to ensure the membership more closely represents the composition of the commonwealth in gender, race and political affiliation.”?

“The current board reflects these changes, and the positive effect of this shift is evident in the valuable and unique perspective each member brings to the KBE,” Ginn said. “Additionally, the Kentucky Department of Education appreciates the importance of maintaining stability within the KBE’s membership.”?

Ginn added that KDE has drafted proposed amendments to stagger future appointments to “avoid the placement of a voting majority by a governor within any appointment cycle.” KDE has shared the drafts with Wilson and is in talks with legislative leaders about this goal.?

Beshear appointed all-new members to the KBE after his first term began in 2019, ousting all of the appointees of his predecessor, Republican Gov. Matt Bevin.

In a January press conference, Beshear said a partisan state school board was a “terrible idea.” He added that the board should be nonpartisan to serve all Kentucky kids; he noted that local school boards, while elected, are not partisan in Kentucky. Since being reelected himself, Beshear has regularly denounced hyper-partisan politics.?

“We need people who are ready to go and to get to work, and aren’t worried about getting elected from a group of people — especially when they have to make tough decisions,” the governor said.?

Before Wednesday’s meeting, the Senate State and Local Government Committee had twice put SB 8 on its agenda only to remove it. Wilson previously told the Kentucky Lantern Senate GOP leadership was continuing its discussions on the bill.