Louisville, Ky. (AP) – Democrat Kentucky Governor Andy Beshire He strengthened his efforts On Wednesday, he will ensure preschool access for every four-year-old in the state, ensuring his plans will enjoy widespread benefits, improving student performance while strengthening employment and family income.
In recent years, Besher, who was hampered by the state’s GOP-Supermajority council when he pitched the universal Pre-K program, launched a campaign in the hopes of building grassroots support. He will come about seven months before lawmakers convened in January for the 2026 session. The 2026 session will be highlighted by the work of passing the state’s next two years of budget.
Beshear, a two-term governor who will be seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2028, said he “deserves a good start” by ensuring that every child is prepared for kindergarten. Bluegrass State has not reached that goal, he said. Pointing out statistics showing that over half of Kentucky’s children are not ready on their first day of kindergarten, creating a difficult achievement gap.
“The Bible says that children are gifts from God,” Bessia said at a campaign-style stop in Louisville. “And we believe that adults have a responsibility to build a state that is right for all of them. We all know that we can do this with Pre-K for everyone. Let’s finally get this done.”
Almost two-thirds of Kentucky’s 120 counties lack sufficient childcare to serve all families who need it, the governor said. Workforce participation rates tend to be lower in counties with fewer childcare options, the Beshear administration said.
“If our child’s zip code determines their global status by the first day of kindergarten, Kentucky will not reach that possibility,” said former public school teacher and administrator, Lt. Col. Jacqueline Coleman. “Pre-K time is now.”
The benefits of his Pre-K proposal would be much broader and include increasing the state’s workforce by allowing more parents to return to work, Beshear said. And it helps to ease the financial burden on parents with young children, he said.
“Now, American families are struggling and struggling to pay their bills, and childcare is a big part of that,” Besher said. “For everyone, it eases the financial burden faced by hardworking families and makes it much easier to pay those bills, not just a little.”
Besher on Wednesday did not dig into how much a state-funded kindergarten would cost, but he pointed to a survey showing that every dollar invested in Pre-K generates $10 in cycling for the state economy.
Beshear’s until the 2024 Legislative Conference Budget Planning $172 million per year was included in the next two-year budget cycle to provide a four-year-old kindergarten. Beshear said the cost is “more than affordable,” representing just a small portion of the large surplus of the state’s budget conservation trust fund. That kindergarten proposal or other such others have not made any progress with GOP lawmakers.
Ensuring preschool access should be nonpartisan, Beshear said Wednesday. He said about 18 states, including those run by Republicans, offer Pre-K access to all four-year-olds.
Besher and other top members of his administration have planned events in Kentucky’s biggest media market over the coming days to promote preschool plans.
In another indication, he is bolstering his public campaign for his Pre-K proposal, so Beshear has created an advisory committee to hold a statewide public meeting on the issue. The committee, which is made up of people from backgrounds in education, workforce development and business, will provide a written report to the governor this fall, detailing their findings and recommendations.
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