All 4-year-old children in two more Kentucky school districts will have access to pre-K, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear announced Tuesday. Across the four districts now included in the program, Beshear said almost 3,000 children will have access to pre-K under the program.
“These families, across multiple communities, can now access quality education, childcare. They can save money and get back into the workforce, knowing their kids are safe and cared for,” Beshear said. “And our plan is to continue to increase this access.”
He created the pilot program in early May, shortly after the General Assembly ignored his proposal to create a statewide expanded pre-K program. Beshear said he created the pilot entirely via executive order and using state funds appropriated to economic development.
The school districts in Franklin County and Glasgow will join Rockcastle and Robertson County Public Schools. Glasgow Independent School District serves 2,240 students, and Franklin County Public Schools is the largest of the school districts so far included in the pilot with more than 6,000 students and 15 schools.
Franklin County Superintendent Mark Kopp joined Beshear at the Tuesday announcement and said the pilot will serve roughly 1,000 students over the next two years.
“This is not a hypothesis or an educated guess,” Kopp said. “Decades of research and the examples of states around us show that kids who attend high-quality preschool programs, like the one we're launching today, do better and they go further.”
Republican leaders in Frankfort have balked at creating a new program they will be obligated to fund in perpetuity and questioned the accuracy of Beshear’s cost estimates. Some GOP lawmakers have also brought up concerns that nearby child care businesses could be impacted.
Beshear argued the program is essential to making sure more Kentucky children are ready for kindergarten. Less than half of Kentucky children show up for their first day of school ready to start school, and most of Kentucky’s counties are considered child care deserts.
“We're probably looking at a couple of extra pilot programs on top of this, but we should not have the haves and the have-nots in school districts,” Beshear said.
He did not say Tuesday how much his pilot program is costing, nor how much its expansion will add to the total. However, the cost is surely less than the $50 million he asked lawmakers to provide over the next two years to expand public pre-K across the state.
Beshear said he used federal funds that he has the flexibility to appropriate as he chooses under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. He said he hopes the General Assembly does not interfere with the pilot now that it has been established.
“I can't imagine a legislature taking away a program providing an education to a 4 year old. Not refusing to create it, which is what's happening right now, but actually taking it away when it's paid for by federal funds,” Beshear said. “This is the best purpose that they can go to.”
Kentucky funds some public preschool for 4 year olds below 160% of the federal poverty line and 3- and 4 year olds with disabilities. Lawmakers kept current funding levels steady at $84.5 million, roughly 14,200 kids.
Through House Bill 6, state lawmakers passed their own set of child care priorities by reforming the current Child Care Assistance Program and KY All STARS child care rating system. It also created a new pilot program that would incentivize parents and child care providers who turn out kindergarten ready students.
