LOUISVILLE,Ky — Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Ky., wants to spend more than a billion dollars to give educators and other school staff pay raises.
On Wednesday, the governor unveiled an outline of his educational priorities for next year’s budget. His plan would give teachers, bus drivers and other educational staff an 11% raise. In total, it would cost $1.1 billion and would mean teachers receive around a $4,000 pay bump.
“We must do significantly more to remain competitive and to provide the best for our children,” Beshear said.
The governor’s plan references a study into educator pay from the National Education Association. It found Kentucky ranks 40th in the nation for average teacher pay and 44th for starting salaries. An 11% raise would boost the state’s average teacher's pay to 25th in the U.S.
“So existing teachers and all school staff benefit. Because when all you do is raise the starting salary, it creates compression and you lose teachers that may have three, four, five, six or seven years of experience when they’re paid almost the exact same thing as someone who is brand new,” Beshear said.
Other key parts of his plan include increasing student loan forgiveness for teachers to $3,000 per year, increasing the state’s investment into vocational education centers and making universal pre-k a reality.
“If we can make sure that everyone is kindergarten ready, our test and reading scores will go up and we see that. We see that in the underlying data. So we believe that this is a comprehensive proposal that, yes, will help catch our kids up. That is not a six-month or an eight-month process,” Beshear stated. “It’s going to take some time, but I get to see it day in and day out.”
Beshear’s plan also calls for the state to fully fund public school transportation, something at the front of many people’s minds after the transportation fiasco last week for Jefferson County Public Schools.
“The General Assembly has refused to give districts what it costs to bus our students, and they refused to give a big enough salary increase to attract more bus drivers,” Beshear said. “So if you don’t fund what it costs to bus our students and you don’t have competitive salaries to have enough bus drivers, yes, you are going to have problems.”
The governor believes now is the time to make what he believes is the largest investment in education in over 40 years.
“With a record budget surplus, the largest rainy day fund in state history and good economic conditions, we not only can afford this, but we must make this investment,” Beshsear said.
Still, the Democrat faces two major hurdles. Winning his reelection bid in November and convincing the Republican-led legislature to back his plan.
On Tuesday, Republican candidate for governor and current Attorney General Daniel Cameron, R-Ky., released his education plan.
If elected, Cameron says he’ll raise the starting salary for new teachers to $41,500, develop a 16-week tutoring program to combat math and reading learning loss and ensure districts comply with state laws requiring school resource officers.