EDUCATION
Better education cannot be addressed without addressing the teachers’ pension fund. I believe teachers are one of our most valued resources and we need to act like it. We should be providing better teacher pay and benefits, not worse and in return we can hold them to a higher level of accountability with greater expectations of performance.
One of our greatest education challenges is Kentucky’s willingness to duck and hide from finding new sources of revenue to pay for the education of our children and young adults. We know inflation continues to grow and the cost of everything is increasing; yet we continue to cut taxes in such a way that does not keep up with the demands we have for services paid through these same tax dollars. Schools in our district are near capacity and a new school to meet the need of the known population growth will require funding and planning.
Innovation and technology means very little without the support system to improve our schools and the availability of education. That is why I will examine how Kentucky can make Community & Technological Colleges free for deserving students.
My family has produced 5 generations of teachers. In 1991 I chaired the Jefferson County Public Schools Adult Education Committee. Teachers’ and public workers’ pensions must be made whole and we should consider taking a portion of the pension of those retired legislators who draw a pension from state government and failed to address this issue while they were in office.