Unless you live under a rock or somewhere not named Kentucky, you’ve probably heard the news. Earlier today, the Kentucky House of Representatives voted 52-46 in favor of House Bill 1, Governor Matt Bevin’s newest pension plan. #HB1 passes. We got this wrong today.#APensionIsAPromise pic.twitter.com/9YArBDu1ki — Buddy Wheatley (@buddywheatleyky) July 22, 2019 This pension plan is different from the controversial…
Tag: Pension Reform
Kamala Harris Wants to Raise Teacher Pay, But Some Argue Not So Fast
The 2020 primaries may be ten months away, but that hasn’t stopped over a dozen Democratic candidates from launching early campaigns for a chance to take on Donald Trump. Among the heavyweights so far is Kamala Harris, a California Senator whose announcement brought thousands together in Oakland to support her bid to become the first African-American woman president. Her first…
Teacher “Sickouts” Strike Again. Am I Missing Something?
In case anyone thought we might make it through this legislative session without another walkout or protest, they were wrong. Today, teachers from across the Bluegrass are flocking to our state capital in droves (again) to rally against another controversial retirement policy. Let me add that I won’t be there. I’ll be teaching about ecosystems to my middle schoolers while…
Pension Reform Bill Struck Down By Kentucky Supreme Court
For those following the pension reform debacle in Kentucky, we finally have the verdict: Senate Bill 151, the controversial “sewage” bill that stood to make major changes to public pensions, has been struck down. In a unanimous decision made Thursday, the Kentucky Supreme Court stated that the bill “did not comply with the three-reading requirement,” and thus ruled that the…
We’re Still Here: Kentucky Teachers React to the 2018 Midterm Elections
It’s been a month since the 2018 midterm elections humbled Kentucky’s #RememberInNovember crowd, but with the newly-elected General Assembly beginning their session next month, you may think that Kentucky teachers are still licking their wounds. It couldn’t have been a more personal loss. Angered by a controversial pension overhaul bill and a Governor’s uncanny remarks, many Kentucky teachers thought they…
You Can’t Have Your Pension Reform Cake And Eat It, Too
If you live in Kentucky and consume any form of news media at all, you’ll be familiar with the bitter, contentious debate that’s been raging about teachers’ pensions. The road to reform began with an actuarial report recommending deep, structural cuts to our teachers’ retirement system, then took a major bump in the form of teacher protests and walkouts earlier…
Why We Fight
Public education, and more specifically public educators, have increasingly been in the media more this year than in the past several decades. Thousands of teachers in West Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arizona, and North Carolina have held work stoppages, strikes, and rallies at their respective State Capitols over the severe lack of funding for their students, teacher salaries, and teacher (and…
Kentucky Supreme Court Will Hear Pension Case Today
This story is in progress. Photo by Scott Beale, CC-Licensed. Bevin vs. Beshear? Pension reform vs. teachers? UK vs. UofL? (Just kidding. We know who wins that last one.) Today, the showdown that Kentucky teachers have been waiting for is going down in Frankfort. Kentucky’s Supreme Court will hear the overturned pension reform bill that made headlines earlier this spring, posing…
Franklin County Court Rules Pension Reform Bill Unconstitutional
Kentucky’s controversial pension reform bill, Senate Bill 151, has been declared unconstitutional. WDRB reports that on Wednesday, Franklin County Court Judge Phillip Shepherd declared Senate Bill 151 void, ruling that the bill failed to meet procedural requirements set forth by the state Constitution. The controversial bill was initially passed and signed into law by Governor Bevin earlier this spring, and…
The Good, The Bad, and The Not-So-Terrible: What’s Happening to Kentucky Teacher Pensions
This article originally appeared in teacherpensions.org. This week, thousands of Kentucky teachers marched in the state capitol in response to a prospective change in retirement benefits and general concern with the state budget. While their budget and salary concerns are real, the retirement plan reform is necessary, and will in the long run be good for Kentucky and the state’s next generation of…
Matt Bevin’s War
When Louisville businessman Matt Bevin ran for governor in 2015, he did so on the platform of fiscal responsibility, school choice, and conservative reform. Armed with Tea Party rhetoric and the funding to match it, Bevin did the unthinkable by knocking off establishment candidate James Comer in the GOP primary. His margin of victory was just 83 votes. Shortly after…
Back From The Dead: Kentucky Gets Its Second Glimpse At Pension Reform
Update: SB 151 has been passed by the Senate 22-15. It was Thursday afternoon when the Kentucky House of Representatives convened for Day 57 of the Kentucky General Assembly’s 59-day session. It didn’t go as many expected. Back from the dead, elements of the controversial Senate Bill 1 were inserted into Senate Bill 151, which was originally filed as an act…