LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Gov. Andy Beshear is traveling the state speaking about the Education First Plan.

In October, Beshear announced his plan to address the loss of learning for students during the pandemic, teacher shortages, and pay increases.

What You Need To Know

  • The plan includes funding for a 5% pay raise for school staff, universal pre-K, textbooks, technology and training
  • Beshear also wants to address mental health and provide more resources for both students and teachers
  • The General Assembly can address the plan during the 2023 regular session
  • In the state’s latest report card, a majority of schools fell right down in the middle in the yellow category, while about 5% of schools in the state fell in the worst ranking, the red category

He’s now calling on lawmakers to address the plan during the 2023 regular session.

Emilie McKiernan Blanton is a teacher at Southern High School in Louisville. She has two children in the school district and described her experience.

“Before I’m a teacher, I’m a mother,” Blanton said. “I’m a mother whose daughter did not have a 1st-grade teacher, I’m a mother whose son did not have a 5th-grade teacher, I’m a mother whose son did not have a science teacher last year. I’m a mother whose daughter does not have a reading teacher right now.”

Blanton said in her experience, even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the teacher shortage crisis affected many school districts.

“I know what it’s like to see your child’s schedule and see vacancy there instead of a teacher’s name. I know that the real learning loss is the catastrophic teacher shortage—and that it’s not really a teacher shortage, it is a shortage of people willing to work in these conditions for that money,” Blanton said.

It’s one reason also echoed by Beshear to address not only the teacher vacancies and pay, but also enhance learning for students.

“It’s important that the state step up and do our part, especially when we are in the third year of what will be the four largest budget surpluses in our state’s history,” Beshear said. “At the end of the budget, we’ll have 2 billion dollars of revenue that came in over expenditures. How can we not invest when teacher pay is 44th [in the U.S.] and we’re sitting on two billion extra dollars even before we look at our rainy day fund?”

Beshear’s calling on passing the Education First Plan to prepare the next generation, but he says it’s harder if there are 11,000 vacancies across districts in the state.

“Once again, if you recall, there are 11,000 [vacancies] in the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” said Marty Pollio, JCPS Superintendent. “This is not just a rural issue or an urban issue or a suburban issue, it’s not a JCPS issue. I talked to my colleagues and I stand here to represent the superintendents of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. And this is in every county of the Commonwealth and also in every large district across the United States.”

The plan includes funding for a 5% pay raise for school staff.

“I want my children’s teacher to focus on my children and their education instead of making it in time for their second job so that they can clock in,” Blanton said.

The plan also includes universal pre-k, textbooks, technology and training.

In the state’s latest report card, a majority of schools fell right down in the middle in the yellow category. About 5% of schools in the state fell in the worst ranking, the red category. A little under 8% of schools got the highest, the blue category.

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