Kentucky teachers: We’ve had enough

April 03--An estimated 15,000 Kentucky teachers, school employees and their supporters gathered outside the Kentucky Education Association in Frankfort on Monday, filling the street blocks from the Capitol, overcrowding the Rotunda, and lining the hallways near the House and Senate chambers in response to the pension overhaul that was announced late last week.

Protesters chanted "Stop the war on public education" and some, angry at lawmakers who supported the overhaul, yelled "Vote them out," while others held signs that read "We've Had Enough" and "A Pension is a Promise."

"We're madder than hornets, and the hornets are swarming today," said Claudette Green, a retired teacher and principal.

Amid the chorus of chants from teachers, Kentucky lawmakers considered a new state budget that includes higher spending for public education.

Budget negotiators unveiled a spending plan Monday that includes increased spending for the main funding formula for K-12 schools and restored money for school buses that the state's Republican governor had proposed eliminating. The additional education spending would be paid for by a 6 percent sales tax on a host of services that had previously been tax-free.

Schools across the state were closed, most because of spring break, but several to allow teachers and other school employees to attend the rally that was organized after hundreds of teachers called in sick Friday to protest last-minute changes to their pension system. Teachers have rallied several times during Kentucky's legislative session to protest the pension bill, but Monday was by far their biggest event.

Kelsey Dever, a Daviess County Middle School seventh-grade math teacher, and a group of other Daviess County and Owensboro city educators began their day at 5:45 a.m. when they were shuttled to the Capitol.

She wrote in a text message that children, firefighters, police officers and teachers were chanting and holding signs, some of which read "Some cuts won't heal," and "Kentucky schools deserve better, not Bevin." She and her group were able to get inside the Capitol, which was packed, she said.

"People are standing outside the House of Representatives room chanting," she said.

Dever said that while the pension bill was passed "in a deceitful and disrespectful way," that she was in Frankfort to also rally for school funding.

"We don't want public education to receive any cuts," she said. "That only hurts the kids."

She said it is important to represent her school district, and others, and to show support for current, retired and future generations of teachers. She wants the teaching profession to stay appealing and valued "because kids deserve quality teachers."

"We are all products of public schools, and we are proud of public education," she said.

Republican lawmakers in Kentucky passed Senate Bill 151, the pension overhaul, on Thursday that preserves benefits for most workers but cuts them for new teachers. The move was done in response to one of the worst-funded teacher retirement systems in the country at 56 percent and in defiance of a powerful teachers union that vowed political retribution. Opponents objected that the pension changes were inserted into an unrelated bill without a chance for public input, and worry that the changes will discourage young people from joining the profession.

Some provisions of Senate Bill 151, a stripped-down version of Senate Bill 1, include no changes to the 1.5 percent annual cost-of-living-adjustments for retirees; new hires entering a cash balance retirement plan; limits on sick days teachers can put toward their retirement; retirement eligibility for future teachers will increase to age 65 with five years of service or when the employee's combined age and years of service equal 87; and pension contribution rates to be 9.105 percent of salaries for teachers, with a 6 percent state contribution and 2 percent school district match.

Republican Gov. Matt Bevin has not yet signed the bill, but last week tweeted his support, saying public workers owe "a deep debt of gratitude" to lawmakers who voted to pass it.

Kirk Haynes, an Owensboro Public Schools fifth- and sixth-grade gifted and talented teacher, is also a Kentucky Education Association board member who has been working in education for 14 years. He said that his participation in the Frankfort rally was to spread the message that legislators should fully fund public education.

For him, that includes paying the full actuarial payment for the teacher retirement system for 2019-20, funding employee health insurance at the equivalent level payments are now, and for the state to fully fund Support Education Excellence in Kentucky, referred to as SEEK.

"If legislators don't perform their civic duty correctly, then we want them to know that we are people who are in a well-educated profession who are advocates for public schools," Haynes said. "We will remember this in November."

Melissa Wash, a first-grade teacher form Gallatin County who has been teaching for 19 years, said she voted for Bevin, but now plans to become a Democrat. To the lawmakers who voted for the pension overhaul, she said, "You better not count on another year in office."

Haynes wants legislators to know he, and others rallying, are doing so for Kentucky students and for the future of the profession.

"My whole world is my students in my classes," he said. "I want for people to think of education as an honorable and noble profession. I hope that that's the message that gets across to all citizens of the commonwealth."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Bobbie Hayse, [email protected], 270-691-7315, Twitter: @BobbieHayseMI

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