Hot on the heels of similar victories in Oklahoma and West Virginia, striking teachers in Kentucky celebrated last week’s override of Governor Matt Bevin’s veto of legislation that would provide more funding for Kentucky public schools. As a result, Kentucky will now enact 50-cent hike in cigarette taxes and a 6 percent sales tax on auto and home repair, all of which will go to public ecucation. In an odd political twist, minority Democrats in the state legislature crossed the aisle to support Republican Governor Bevin’s veto, while 57 GOP legislators voted to override. It was Republicans in the legislature, however, who sparked the labor unrest, when they wrote massive changes to teacher’s pensions systems into law earlier in the year.
Andrew Bailey is a teacher at Fairdale High School in Louisville, Kentucky who recently announced his run for the Kentucky Senate against Republican incumbent Dan Seum. Andrew Bailey joins us Eight O’Clock Buzz host Brian Standing by phone.
