FRANKFORT, Ky. — With the World Health Organization stating last month that the end of the COVID-19 pandemic is in sight, Gov. Andy Beshear joined state education leaders in the Capitol Rotunda to announce his Education First Plan.
The Governor’s plan aims to address student learning loss brought on by the pandemic and years of denied pay raises that have contributed to the state’s nearly 11,000 public school teacher vacancies by providing funding for a 5% pay raise for school staff, universal pre-K, textbooks, technology and training, teacher student loan forgiveness and social and mental health services. The Governor is also asking lawmakers to consider restoring new teacher pensions, which he said is the single most effective action we can take to keep new teachers in the classroom.
The General Assembly will have an opportunity to pass the plan during the 2023 regular session.
The Governor said that during the height of the pandemic and through case surges, every state in the country took some type of step to save lives. According to a report from the Center for American Progress, during the 2019-2020 school year, all public school buildings in the United States closed in response to COVID-19. Schools in 48 states remained closed or offered remote instruction through the end of the year. Throughout 2021 and 2022 in Kentucky, local school districts had to decide when to implement remote learning days to prevent more illnesses.
Instruction disruptions have persisted across the nation as staff, students and their families became ill and missed school. Through these challenges, though, Kentucky students’ 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress performance was found to be consistent with those of the rest of the nation.
Education First Plan
Raise Teacher and School Staff PaySince taking office, Gov. Beshear has supported an across-the-board educator raise for every school employee, from teachers to bus drivers. Once again, the Governor proposes to fund a 5% raise for every school employee in Kentucky. This raise would be above and beyond any recent raises by school districts. At a time when schools struggle to recruit and retain educators, a pay raise is necessary.
Fund Universal Pre-KThe Governor’s last budget proposal called for a historic investment in the commonwealth’s youngest learners by providing universal preschool for all 4-year-olds and full-day kindergarten for every Kentucky child – for the first time ever. This year’s Kentucky School Report Card on the Kindergarten screen showed that 62.7% of Kentucky’s children were ranked below average for academic/cognitive abilities. Funding pre-K will ensure learning losses do not continue for these children who will be starting school.
Studies have also shown that universal pre-K significantly bolsters the workforce and saves families tens of thousands of dollars. Finally, pre-K has proven to be an effective time for screening and identification of learning challenges, with early intervention yielding the best results.
Restore Funding to Textbooks and Professional DevelopmentLast year, the Governor proposed adding millions each year to restore funding for professional development, as well as textbooks and instructional resources, but lawmakers in Frankfort failed to pass this funding. The Governor is again proposing these funds for specialized training and materials to address learning loss.
Launch Loan Forgiveness ProgramsTo further help keep teachers in the classroom, the Governor again recommends a student loan forgiveness program that will offer a maximum $3,000 annual award for each year of employment in a public school.
Support Social and Mental HealthThe Governor said his administration has always believed that mental health is just as important as physical health.
The Governor is again proposing to set aside funds to assemble a statewide staff and eight regional Social Emotional Learning institutes so that educators have access to training on how best to help our students with their mental health. The Governor will provide two new grant programs for school districts to provide wrap-around services to students impacted by violence, substance abuse, child abuse and parental incarceration, and other training and resources to help students.
Restore PensionsIn March 2021, lawmakers overrode Gov. Beshear’s veto, leaving new teachers without the traditional, defined benefits pension plan, which guaranteed benefits after so many years of service. This action severely cut overall compensation for new teachers by eliminating the most valuable benefit and the only benefit aimed at retention. Now, new teachers are in a hybrid plan, where they are expected to pay more into retirement. In 2018, then-Attorney General Beshear led efforts to have the well-known “sewer bill” – which would have stripped teacher retirement benefits – struck down by the Kentucky Supreme Court.
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