Funding for Charter Schools in Kentucky could be expanded under House Bill 9–a bill Gov. Andy Beshear calls unconstitutional. This bill would provide a permanent funding system for charter schools, which are public schools that are allowed to cut through bureaucratic red tape —obstacles that hinder students’ learning. Charter schools are already legal in the commonwealth, but they’ve not yet been funded. If they are, then school kids in low-income communities will have an alternative to the low-performing public school they may be trapped in. This bill offers parents a choice in their child’s education and empowers them to send their kids to the better school. Opponents in the legislature claim that it will harm public schools. But, in the 43 other states that have charter schools, it has done the exact opposite. Studies show that when both charter and public schools are available, academic performance increases.