A strong public education system is the cornerstone of our commonwealth. I attended public schools and my children both attend public schools in Lexington. Our highly-qualified teachers and classified employees work hard laying the groundwork for our children’s future success. Our elected officials ought to do everything they can to ensure our schools have the resources necessary to match that effort. This includes fully-funding the public pension system so we can not only attract and retain top quality teachers, but we can keep our promise to lifelong educators who have given their lives to teaching and training our kids.
I stand with Governor Beshear in his call to give all school employees an 11% pay raise. A budget surplus coupled with an all time record amount in the rainy day fund means Kentucky has the opportunity to give our educators a raise now. It is imperative that Kentucky teachers are paid what they deserve so that we can retain the best and brightest to the field of education. We must also look at ways to expand access to high-quality early childhood care and education opportunities, like Universal Pre-K. Studies show that investments in early childhood learning pay dividends as children develop and it’s imperative that we get students started on the right track.