FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — When a school bus pulled up to Frankfort High School today, students did not get off. Instead, it was Andy Beshear and Jacqueline Coleman, along with public education supporters.
Beshear is the democratic candidate for governor, and the Kentucky Education Association has endorsed him. Wednesday, the group was there to cheer him on while he talked about his plan for public education in Kentucky.
Beshear told the crowd he was going to put "Kentucky's public schools, students, and teachers first."
His plan includes things like reducing class sizes, adding more nurses, addressing the teacher shortage, and funding.
Throughout his campaign, Beshear has said he'll prioritize public education in the state budget. But with costly changes proposed, the question is: how do you plan on paying for this?
"What we have pledged today is (that) we're going to address public education before we reach anything else," said Beshear. "We're going to make this our highest priority. And we're not signing a budget, we're not writing a budget, that doesn't have sufficient funding for public education come first."
That's an answer his opponent, Governor Matt Bevin, has criticized before, saying Beshear is making empty promises - promises the state cannot afford.
To that, Beshear says Kentucky can't afford to not make these investments.
"Yes, there are going to be hard choices and we're going to have to make sacrifices elsewhere, but we're going to fund public education," said Beshear.
Beshear's campaign paid for the use of the school bus, public money was not used.
