With "Pre-K for All" failing to gain traction in the GOP-led General Assembly, Beshear is using another route to push the administration priority. Thursday, Beshear revealed he has signed an executive order implementing pilot programs establishing full-day preschool for all four-year-olds in the two counties.
"These pilots serve as the first step in a phased, responsible path toward every child having pre-K access," the governor said.
Dr. Carrie Ballinger and Dr. Sanford Holbrook head up the school systems in Rockcastle and Robertson counties.
"I've seen that students who have the opportunity to attend pre-school... have much more success in school. They're much more likely to graduate from high school and they are much better prepared to enter the workforce," Ballinger said.
"Pre-K for All is so important to our community," Holbrook continued. "Because if you've ever been to Robertson County, you know we have no childcare. The childcare centers closest to Robertson County are located in Cynthiana 40 minutes away and Maysville 30 minutes away."
Republicans have tended to favor plans that would bolster expanded childcare options over the governor's pre-K push — a position Beshear has suggested is political in nature. GOP leaders have also pointed to worries about instituting a new recurring cost.
Beshear now says the goal of the pilot programs is to grow them until they reach across the state.
UPDATE: Senate President Robert Stivers (R-Manchester) released a lengthy statement regarding the move.
“This discussion is not about whether early childhood education matters. It absolutely does. Lawmakers across Kentucky recognize that childcare access, kindergarten readiness and workforce participation remain serious challenges for many families, particularly in rural communities, and we have continually demonstrated a willingness to support early learning initiatives through existing preschool funding and legislation like House Bill 6, which included a provision establishing the kindergarten readiness pilot program. That program was sponsored by the legislature's biggest advocate of early childhood education, Sen. Danny Carroll, who, along with the bill sponsor and a stakeholder, has done yeoman's work on this policy front. Legislators, educators, business leaders and stakeholders across the commonwealth have spent years engaged in thoughtful discussions surrounding early childhood policy and the long-term needs of Kentucky families.
“That is why this announcement raises important questions that require clarification.
“The administration has stated these pilot programs will be funded by redirecting dollars away from existing workforce programs it determined were not maximizing outcomes. The issue is not whether the executive branch has some flexibility within existing appropriations. It clearly does, and lawmakers have previously encouraged administrations to exercise that flexibility when public needs demanded it.
“Lawmakers, and the Kentuckians they represent, ought to know which workforce programs are losing funding, how much money is being redirected, what metrics were used to determine those programs were underperforming and to what extent affected communities and stakeholders were consulted before those decisions were made.
“Further, questions of consistency from this administration naturally come to mind. Governor Beshear has repeatedly argued that programs and policies cannot move forward without explicit funding or legislative direction. At a minimum, today’s announcement appears difficult to reconcile with that longstanding position and raises broader questions about how this administration determines when flexibility within existing appropriations can and cannot be exercised.
“If the administration now acknowledges broader authority to repurpose funds and implement initiatives within existing appropriations, then lawmakers and taxpayers need clarity regarding how that standard will be applied moving forward. The General Assembly would welcome greater consistency and transparency in that approach.
“There are also important practical questions about how this approach could affect existing private-sector childcare providers, many of which already operate on thin margins while serving working families in these same communities. If publicly funded programs begin competing directly with private providers without a broader long-term strategy, public officials should carefully consider the unintended consequences for local childcare availability and sustainability.
“In addition, Kentucky continues to face significant teacher and workforce shortages across public education. Expanding pre-K access on a larger scale naturally raises questions about staffing capacity, recruitment challenges and the long-term strain additional expansion could place on an already stretched education workforce.
“There is also the practical reality that traditional school schedules and calendars do not always align with the needs of working families, especially those working second shift, third shift, weekend schedules or other nontraditional hours. Any serious conversation about childcare policy should account for those realities and whether proposed models fully address the needs families are actually facing.
“The administration has also indicated that this pilot program could expand further in future phases. That naturally raises additional questions regarding future costs, sustainability and what long-term obligations this may create for future budgets and taxpayers.
“These are not political questions. They are fundamental questions of governance and budgeting. When taxpayer dollars are repurposed, Kentuckians are owed a clear accounting of where those dollars are coming from, what tradeoffs may follow and how those decisions are being made. That level of transparency is essential to maintaining public trust.
“No one disputes that childcare and early education challenges are