Gov. Andy Beshear on Monday announced his two-year, $1.1 billion budget will fund an 11 percent raise for all public school employees, including teachers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and janitors.
The increase would bring Kentucky’s average teacher starting pay to $42,191, which would raise Kentucky to 24th in the country in teacher starting salary in the National Education Association (NEA) rankings.
The pay raise also would bring Kentucky up to 25th in average teacher salary from its current ranking of 40th in the NEA’s rankings.
“Just imagine the local economic impact of an 11 percent raise to every employee of the county’s largest employer. And we have the funding to do it,” Beshear said. “These raises will not only help us recruit but will have a major impact on our local communities.”
The plan also provides $172 million each year to fund universal pre-K for all four-year-olds so that every child is kindergarten-ready and to help stop learning loss where it starts, the governor’s office said. The Department of Education estimates that under this plan, about 34,000 additional Kentucky four-year-olds would be provided preschool education.
The governor’s budget fully funds teacher pensions and student transportation; ensures no health insurance premium increase for educators; provides teachers student loan forgiveness; supports professional development; funds textbooks; boosts mental health services; and will help build new career and technical education centers.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
