LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky voters will deliver their verdict Tuesday on a key education issue, deciding whether state lawmakers should be allowed to allocate taxpayer dollars to support students attending colleges. private or charter schools.

With no runoff for statewide office on the Kentucky ballot this year, the school choice measure has been the most intensely debated issue of the fall campaign . Advocates on both sides have aired television ads and grassroots efforts to make their case in the high-stakes campaign.

Many Republican lawmakers and their allies have supported injecting public funds into private school education, but the courts have stymied them. GOP lawmakers put the issue on a statewide ballot hoping to amend the Kentucky constitution to remove the barrier.

The proposal would not establish policies on how funds could be diverted. Instead, it would pave the way for lawmakers to consider developing such policies to support students attending private schools.

A simple majority is needed to gain voter approval.

Supporters include Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and top GOP state lawmakers. Paul said every child deserves to attend a school that helps them succeed and this measure would help achieve that goal.

Opponents of the proposed constitutional amendment, known as Amendment 2, include public school groups and the state’s most prominent Democrats, Gov. Andy Beshear and Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman. They said taxpayer money allocated for education should only go to public schools.

A number of school administrators and educators from urban and rural districts have warned that public schools would suffer if taxpayer dollars are shifted to private education. In some rural Kentucky counties, the public school system is among the largest employers.

Supporters countered that opening the door to funding school choice would give low- and middle-income parents more options to choose the schools best suited for their children, without harming public education.

Coleman opposed this argument, predicting that the vouchers would not fully cover private school tuition and that many families would not be able to pay the balance. Most of the voucher money would be used to supplement tuition for children already in private schools, she said.

The issue has been debated for years as Republicans expanded their legislative majorities in Kentucky.

The push for a constitutional amendment follows court rulings that taxpayer dollars must be spent on the state’s “common” schools — which courts have interpreted as public. In 2022, Supreme Court of Kentucky overturned a GOP-backed measure to provide tax credits for donations supporting private school tuition.