A day before the Local Issues Conference and the Kentucky State Fair, Governor Andy Beshear outlined his “Education First” budget plan Wednesday morning — calling for an 11% pay raise for teachers and all school-related personnel, and the fully funding of universal pre-kindergarten.
The budget option also calls for the full funding of teacher pensions, student transportation, ensures no health insurance premium increases for educators, provides student loan forgiveness options for teachers, supports school professional development, pays for textbooks, boosts campus mental health services and seeks the construction of career and technical education centers.
Its total cost: more than $1.1 billion, much of which would come from a record surplus, the largest “Rainy Day Fund” in Commonwealth history and “good economic conditions.” A measure like this, Beshear said, would keep Kentucky competitive through investments to schools, teachers and students.
According to the National Education Association, Kentucky is 44th in the country in teacher’s starting pay, with an average salary of $38,010. The definition of school staff, Beshear added, would include bus drivers, cafeteria staff and janitors.
The increase would bring average teacher starting pay to $42,191, moving the Commonwealth to 24th based on current standards. It would also move Kentucky from 40th in overall teacher’s pay to 25th.
The KDE, meanwhile, has Kentucky’s starting salary averages at $40,156, with an 11% raise bringing it to $44,573. The KDE is reporting an 11% raise would increase average teacher’s pay to $62,576.
Beshear said that while state employees received a “much-needed and deserved” 14% pay raise in the last two years, educators only received an average of 3% in the last 12 months — and many districts gave none.
In regard to fully-funding pre-K, both Beshear and Lt. Governor Jacqueline Coleman asked for such measures in the governor’s first biennium budget. While many things were funded through the Kentucky General Assembly, this was not, and Beshear’s office is seeking the first-ever investment by the state.
The full funding of student transportation became a major headline last week, when parents and officials of the Jefferson County Public Schools observed and tried to mitigate delayed bus routes in and around Louisville. Beshear said his last budget proposal sought to fund transportation in all 120 counties, but the KGA “failed to do so.”
A student loan forgiveness program, if passed, will provide a maximum $3,000 annual award for each year of employment in a Kentucky public school, and as a teacher.
A $100 million one-time grant fund would continue to build and improve career and technical centers.
