Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear steps up campaign to ensure preschool for every Kentucky 4-year-old

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear stepped up his efforts Wednesday to guarantee preschool access for every 4-year-old in the state, offering assurances his plan would reap widespread benefits — improving student performance while bolstering employment and family budgets.

Having been stymied by the state’s GOP-supermajority legislature in recent years when he pitched his universal pre-K plan, Beshear kicked off a high-profile campaign in hopes of building grassroots support. It comes about seven months before lawmakers convene in January for their 2026 session, which could be the term-limited governor’s last realistic chance to turn his ambitious preschool plan into law. The 2026 session will be highlighted by work to pass the state’s next two-year budget.

Beshear, a two-term governor seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2028, said every child “deserves a good start” by ensuring they are prepared for kindergarten. The Bluegrass State is falling short of that goal, he said, pointing to statistics showing more than half of Kentucky children are unprepared for their first day of kindergarten, creating an achievement gap that’s difficult to overcome.

“Scripture tells us that children are a gift from God,” Beshear said during his campaign-style stop in Louisville. “And I believe that we have a responsibility as adults to build a better state for every single one of them. We all know that we can do this with pre-K for all. Let’s finally get this done.”

Nearly two-thirds of Kentucky’s 120 counties lack sufficient child care to serve every family that needs it, the governor said. Workforce participation rates tend to be lower in counties with fewer childcare options, Beshear’s administration said.

“Kentucky will never reach its potential if our children’s zip code determines their place in the world by the first day of kindergarten,” said Democratic Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, a former public school teacher and administrator. “The time for pre-K is now.”

The benefits of his pre-K proposal would be much broader and would include increasing the state’s workforce by enabling more parents to go back to work, Beshear said. And it would help ease the financial strain on parents with young children, he said.

“American families right now are struggling, struggling to pay the bills, and child care is a big part of that,” Beshear said. “Pre-K for all could ease the financial burden facing our hardworking families and make paying those bills not just a little but a lot easier.”

Beshear on Wednesday did not delve into how much state-funded preschool would cost, but he pointed to a study indicating every $1 invested in pre-K generates $10 cycling through the state economy.

Leading up to the 2024 legislative session, Beshear’s budget plan included $172 million each year of the following two-year budget cycle to provide preschool for 4-year-olds. Beshear has said the expense is “more than affordable,” amounting to a fraction of the massive surplus in the state’s budget reserve trust fund. That preschool proposal and others like it have made no headway with GOP lawmakers.

Kentucky House Speaker David Osborne, a Republican, said later Wednesday that there have been no discussions with Beshear or anyone in his administration about legislative initiatives.

“If he is genuinely interested in passing a legislative priority, he should talk to legislators,” the speaker said in a statement.

Republican state Sen. Stephen West said Kentucky lawmakers increased funding in recent years for full-day kindergarten, early literacy and numeracy initiatives and other efforts to “help students succeed from the start.” West, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, said in a statement that many details about the governor’s early childhood education initiative remain unclear.

“I look forward to continued conversations about how best to expand access while ensuring any future proposals are effective, sustainable and responsible for families, schools and Kentucky taxpayers,” he said.

Guaranteeing preschool access should be nonpartisan, Beshear said Wednesday. He said that some 18 states — including some run by Republicans — offer pre-K access for all 4-year-olds.

Beshear and other top members of his administration planned events in Kentucky’s biggest media markets over the coming days to promote the preschool plan.

In another sign he’s stepping up the public campaign for his pre-K proposal, Beshear issued an executive order creating an advisory committee that will hold statewide public meetings on the issue. The committee — made up of people with backgrounds in education, workforce development and business — will submit a report to the governor this fall detailing its findings and recommendations.