Weeks after public school teachers across the state walked out of class, the Kentucky Department of Education has recommended that the state assume control of Kentucky’s largest school system. Commissioners appointed by the state’s Republican governor, Matt Bevin, would have final say over the affairs of the Jefferson County public school system, which serves the city of Louisville and surrounding areas. Opponents of a takeover say state control may not necessarily be the answer to the county’s problems. They’re concerned that this may be the prelude to greater privatization of the system, which itself could be part of a retaliatory campaign against the teachers and their supporters.

Jefferson County is largely Democratic, and it mostly supported April’s walkout; in fact, the district was home to some of the state’s earliest teacher sickouts ahead of the large-scale walkouts that captured national attention. Jefferson County, therefore, challenges the authority of a governor who does not appreciate such challenges.

It’s important to establish that the school system does have real problems. An audit, launched by the state’s previous education commissioner and released by its current one, accuses the district of improperly managing funds, inconsistently implementing curriculum, and failing to appropriately address cases of student abuse. In January 2017, a kindergarten student with special needs broke his thigh bone at a Jefferson County elementary school; in 2014, administrators at another school in the county broke a teenage boy’s femurs when they restrained him. The question is not if Jefferson County Schools need improvement. Rather, it is a question of whether state control is the answer, particularly when the state could use such audits as a Trojan horse to introduce privatization measures.

It isn’t clear if Jefferson County schools are disproportionately worse than schools in any other Kentucky county. It’s even less clear that the administration of Bevin, who adamantly supports charter schools and school vouchers, has any real interest in investing the funds necessary to improve such a large and complicated public school system. Furthermore, the district may not have much leeway to object if the state does take it over. Although education commissioner Wayne Lewis and Bevin have both said they support Marty Pollio, the district’s current superintendent, Lewis will be able to make significant decisions over Pollio’s head.

The takeover proposal also follows recent upheaval in the state board of education: In early April, Bevin packed the board with his own appointees, forcing the sitting commissioner, Steve Pruitt, to resign. The board subsequently appointed Lewis, a charter school advocate, as interim commissioner. Pruitt initially commissioned the audit into Jefferson County’s operations, but Lewis released that audit after barely serving two weeks in the job.