Written by John Cheves of the Herald-Leader
The Kentucky Senate passed a state budget bill Thursday taking aim at school teachers in several ways, such as dropping the guaranteed $2,000 pay raise promised by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear and withholding $1.13 billion in their pension funding unless “structural changes” are made to cut retirement benefits for newly hired teachers.
Teachers who are locked out of the state Capitol because of the novel coronavirus shutdown said they were outraged that lawmakers would seize on this “time of crisis” to try again to reduce their pension benefits. Past efforts by lawmakers to change teacher pensions resulted in protests at the Capitol and statewide sick-outs.
“I feel like we’ve been slapped in the face,” said Eddie Campbell, president of the Kentucky Education Association in a video posted on Facebook.
“We don’t need to be making these decisions when the voice of educators, the voice of the public, the voice of the citizens of Kentucky, aren’t there to make sure your concerns are being expressed,” Campbell said.
The state’s two-year spending plan now returns to the House, although the Republican-led General Assembly departed Thursday for a one-week break to reassess its schedule because of the coronavirus. A committee of House and Senate members will negotiate a final budget, which must be approved before lawmakers adjourn April 15.
(Cross-posted via the Kentucky Press News Service. Read the rest of the article at the Herald-Leader.)
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