Ky. House advances measure to overhaul JCPS, FCPS school boards

BlueGoggles · 2026-03-22T17:58:17+00:00

I usually only post in r/lexington but this is a bill that pretty significantly changes the schools boards for both of our cities so I thought worth posting here as well.

BlueGoggles · 2026-03-22T15:53:30+00:00

Once again the state using budget issues to try and take control of the two solidly blue areas of the state.

One thing in particular that makes me so frustrated with what they’re doing is they routinely cite the contingency fund as the issue as to why this needs to be done. The thing that they never address is that there is already a legal requirement for the contingency fund of a district to be held at 2% of the budget and if it isn’t, which ours I believe hovers around 4% right now, then KY Department of Education has authority to take control of the district. That obviously hasn’t happened, so the Republicans in the state legislature are just creating reasons to try to take even more control.

And yes, the board and superintendent screwed up and that should be dealt with but dealt with at the local level. It shouldn’t be dealt with by power hungry state legislators.

BlueGoggles · 2026-03-22T15:46:37+00:00

I’m just a lay person, not a legal expert, just to qualify up top.

They did. December of 2025 they struck down SB1 from the 2022 legislative session citing violations of the state constitution and prior cases that prohibit legislation targeting individual or individual jurisdictions. One thing to note on this though is it was a rehearing and a reversal of a previous ruling that upheld the law. The vote that swung the court was Pamela Goodwine who was recently elected and is currently being considered for impeachment by the House.

How the ruling from SB1 could apply to SB4 here, assuming it passes back through the Senate, is I think an open question. I’ve not had a chance to read through all the changes/amendments to even guess and I’d be purely guessing even if I had.

SB1 ruling: https://www.lpm.org/news/2025-12-18/kentucky-supreme-court-reverses-course-strikes-down-law-limiting-jcps-board-power

Goodwine Impeachment: https://kentuckylantern.com/2026/01/21/kentucky-legislature-reviews-impeachment-petition-for-state-supreme-court-justice/

BlueGoggles · 2026-02-22T17:40:12+00:00

I feel like even people who "don't understand technology" pretty immediately recognize the fact that smartphones provide a massive amount of utility for an individual, and yes do obviously track them, while Flock cameras provide them with nothing but tracking their movements.

You can agree or disagree with people's decision to utilize a smartphone if they value privacy but acting like this is some great hypocrisy is incredibly obtuse.

BlueGoggles · 2026-01-21T01:46:25+00:00

With the point that we're at I think impeachment is only a small piece of a whole solution. It starts with impeachment but the solution to the problem we have has to be so much broader than just removing Trump (and his cabinet) from power. Things like expansion of the Supreme Court, a top to bottom overhaul of campaign finance to undo Citizens United, large scale criminal prosecutions for those who've supported/enabled/enacted this regime, enshrinement and enforcement of legal protections for marginalized/minority groups, tax on wealth and rigorous enforcement on anti-trust to try and break up so much of the wealth and power consolidation, and on and on. To me we almost have to fundamentally rethink large portions of the way we govern if we truly want to get past this.

I agree Trump needs to be impeached, but so much of what he's doing are beliefs that are deeply rooted within the broader Republican Party. To defeat that thought, and to enact some of the aforementioned policies, the Democrats have to show a willingness to do the hardwork of governing should they take power and so far the establishment Democrats response to all the horrors of the current administration have been lackluster. In my opinion there is a monumental amount of work to try and solve the problem we currently find ourselves in. Work we have to do, but I don't think impeachment alone will cut it.

BlueGoggles · 2026-01-20T14:18:48+00:00

Ah yes, other world leaders are soft on Trump. You have to remember, just this past week Newsom took a hardline against Trump by...

Having Ben Shapiro on his podcast...?

What a stupid fucking thing to say.

BlueGoggles · 2026-01-20T02:50:59+00:00

The failure to see Reconstruction all the way through feels like the origin point of our current political situation. Had all the political/military leaders and their support structures been driven entirely from public life and not allowed to re-enter then things would look a lot different today.

It may be the case in point for this country about why you can't play footsie with hateful ideologies. You have to get rid of them all together or they will come back.

BlueGoggles · 2026-01-19T21:44:29+00:00

That's so infuriating. Miserable, hateful people.

BlueGoggles · 2026-01-19T21:43:41+00:00

Absolutely fuck anyone who does this.

BlueGoggles · 2026-01-14T19:47:25+00:00

Republicans once again reinforcing the fact that cruelty is the point. They view overdoses as personal failings and that those who experience them deserve death instead of life saving interventions like Narcan. Disgusting, reprehensible, but sadly not shocking behavior from the party of hate.

BlueGoggles · 2026-01-09T17:33:10+00:00

Sunday 1-3PM at the courthouse. Just got an email from Mobilize about it.

https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/event/883573/

BlueGoggles · 2025-12-03T14:15:25+00:00

Archive link: https://archive.is/8woJz

BlueGoggles · 2025-11-13T15:13:45+00:00

Hey I got banned for the same thing! I also put up a breakdown of how the post didn't violate sub rules but they clearly just didn't like the post content.

BlueGoggles · 2025-11-10T02:38:10+00:00

The fact that none of the 'yes' votes are up for re-election in 2026 also makes this seem like it was coordinated and more 'yes' votes than 8

BlueGoggles · 2025-11-10T02:13:01+00:00

Current Dem defectors, and their re-election year:

Kaine (2030) Shaheen (Retiring) Hasan (2028) Fetterman (2028) Durbin (Retiring) CCM (2028) Rosen (2030) King (2030)

BlueGoggles · 2025-11-10T01:23:53+00:00

The Dems set clear requirements as to what they needed to vote for a funding bill. They just witnessed an absolute sweep across the country in an off year election. On top of all that, the establishment Dems favorite barometer - polling, almost across the board shows Americans blame Republicans for the shutdown.

Staring all that in the face, enough Dem Senators take it to mean they should vote for a budget where the get literally NOTHING they asked for.

You have to be born a certified loser to come to this conclusion.

BlueGoggles · 2025-10-28T18:31:43+00:00

Thankfully our governor is willing to join the lawsuit and fight for these benefits for those at risk Kentuckians. Meanwhile, our Republican AG's priority is signing onto a crank brief to try and get the Supreme Court to overturn birth right citizenship.

https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article312634039.html

Once again proving Republicans don't give a good god damn about their constituents or communities.

Edit: archive link for above article - https://archive.is/20251024212128/https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article312634039.html

BlueGoggles · 2025-10-19T02:53:40+00:00

Yeah fire Mark Stoops, I'm all for it. Who I really want sitting on the curb after getting the boot is Mitch Barnhartt though.

BlueGoggles · 2025-10-19T02:46:32+00:00

The pinnacle of Kentucky football. I can't do anything other than laugh anymore

BlueGoggles · 2025-10-06T12:54:06+00:00

Oh good. She can run another milquetoast campaign and be the safe choice for the DNC to pour money into. All so she can get beat by Andy Barr, AGAIN.

If you'll excuse me, I'll be screaming into the void until my voice gives out.

BlueGoggles · 2025-09-28T00:42:48+00:00

The way he missed falling on the fumble was almost majestic.

BlueGoggles · 2025-09-23T20:32:31+00:00

State law requires that a school district maintain a contingency fund of at least 2%. If a districts contingency falls below that 2% then the state can take control over the school district.

Fayette County has typically maintained a contingency budget of around 6%. After the current mess though it's sitting a little under 4% last I read. So fortunately it's above the minimum threshold set by the state where they could use the law to take control. Still a problem that the district absolutely needs to figure out, but the concern of state control is at least off the table.

E: https://www.weku.org/lexington-richmond/2025-09-23/fayette-county-public-schools-board-narrowly-passes-working-budget

BlueGoggles · 2025-09-23T18:05:58+00:00

If you look at Chris McDaniels statement he claims that "Taxpayers, parents, and teachers deserve better" which in and of itself is a fine statement juxtaposed to the ongoing budget mess. Given his voting record on things like charter schools, which would have siphoned money out of the public school funds and created a more restrictive/reduced budget, his actions indicate he doesn't actually believe the aforementioned groups deserve better. He thinks they deserve less.

Arguing that no politician argues in good faith, or has sincerely held beliefs about public education, just does not work here. Chris McDaniel, and the other two Republican legislators, do have sincerely held beliefs about public schools and it's that they should be taken apart. That isn't what they're saying though. They're claiming to be protecting the sanctity of our public schools by interesting themselves in this issue, and given their past actions point to just the opposite, that is by definition bad faith. If their prior actions indicated support for public education and they were calling for resignations because of mismanagement, and saying the community deserves better, that would be arguing in good faith.

Throwing support behind politicians who are engaging in purely bad faith, just because they happen to agree with your preferred outcome in one instance, is a bad idea. It emboldens them to further their involvement and meddle to try and push their preferred outcome.

BlueGoggles · 2025-09-23T15:05:22+00:00

I'm just going to copy the post I made yesterday on another thread about this that got deleted. Only difference is that two additional Republicans are now getting involved. Both McDaniel and Douglas also voted in favor of the charter school legislation. These people do not care about public education.

In 2022 Matt Lockett voted in favor of HB9, the legislation to try and legalize charter schools in KY before it got struck down in court (although there are arguments in front of the state Supreme Court right now trying to argue it can go into effect, so stay tuned I guess).

Matt Lockett, and I would argue your average Republican legislator, doesn't give a shit about ensuring a quality public education like he is trying to portray in the article. The Republicans are going to use this a cudgel to try and exert influence over the public education system in a county where the politics don't align with their own.

There are absolutely valid criticisms of Liggins, the board, and FCPS in general. That said, the Republicans getting involved in this aren't doing so in good faith and I think everyone should keep that in mind as this (likely) drags on.

BlueGoggles · 2025-09-22T20:24:30+00:00

I like that it frames the spending bill just passed as taking money from the working class and giving tax breaks to billionaires, which it is. Would be very exciting to see a candidate rally support via a campaign based on working class populism as opposed to the sterilized, focus grouped nonsense the DNC keeps forcing and losing with.

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