Team Kentucky update features Pre-K for All announcement and comments on KYTC incidents

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – For the final time in its current location for the next four years, Governor Andy Beshear held a Team Kentucky update on Wednesday.

In this update, he filled the Commonwealth in on the progress his Pre-K for All initiative is making.

“Pre-K for All would boost take home pay for families $9,000 a year for six straight years, meaning $54,000 more for the average Kentucky family. It saves $7,000 per year in costs, and it could grow Kentucky’s workforce by 70,000 people… and of course, it could increase kindergarten readiness in a state where over half of our kids show up not ready for kindergarten,” Beshear says.

You may remember a town hall being held on Western Kentucky University’s campus in Bowling Green recently. That was just one of many ways for residents to help shape what this would look like, and the feedback seems to be positive.

“We just held a meeting in the Capital with child care providers from across the state. I got to attend that one, and it was clear everyone is focused on trying to get the very best for our kids. Kentuckians are demanding it too… Since we announced Pre-K for All, over 22,000 emails have been sent to legislators from our people. That’s 22,000 emails in just a couple of months,” Beshear says.

He also responded to a recent lawsuit claiming at least two former Kentucky Transportation Cabinet employees were being paid to provide driver’s licenses to people, including undocumented immigrants.

“Ensuring the integrity of state issued identification is a high priority and any irregularities are taken seriously and investigated. So the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet regularly reviews credential applications, and during one of their reviews, they identified a number of irregularities and they have revoked 1,985 credentials. To our knowledge, all employees involved had been hired through a temp agency and have been terminated,” Beshear said.

News 40 will keep you updated as we learn more about this lawsuit and the future of Governor Beshear’s Pre-K for All program.