Kentucky governor Matt Bevin claims teachers who went to the state Capitol to protest education budget cuts caused children to be sexually assaulted, poisoned, physically harmed and drugged.
‘I guarantee you somewhere in Kentucky today, a child was sexually assaulted that was left at home because there was nobody there to watch them,’ Bevin said to NBC5 outside the state Capitol on Friday.
‘I guarantee you somewhere today, a child was physically harmed or ingested poison because they were left alone because a single parent didn’t have any money to take care of them.’
Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin said teachers who went to the state Capitol to protest education budget cuts left children home alone and ‘vulnerable’ to drugs, poison and assault
‘I guarantee you somewhere in Kentucky today, a child was sexually assaulted because there was nobody there to watch them,’ Bevin said outside the state Capitol on Friday
Bevin’s comments came just hours after his vetoes to the state’s budget and tax reform bills were overridden – precisely what teachers were asking legislators to do when they gathered in Frankfort.
At least 39 school districts cancelled classes so teachers who could join the demonstrations in the state’s capital.
The Republican governor said this caused ‘hundreds of thousands of children’ to be left alone at home and ‘vulnerable’.
He added: ‘Children were harmed — some physically, some sexually, some were introduced to drugs for the first time.’
Bevin also told reporters he was ‘offended by the fact that people so cavalierly, and so flippantly, disregarded what’s truly best for children’ and claimed he saw ‘a lot of people hanging out, shoes-off, smoking, leaving trash around, taking the day off’.
At least 39 school districts cancelled classes so teachers who could join the demonstrations in the state’s capital
Bevin’s comments came after his vetoes to the state’s budget and tax reform bills were overridden – what teachers were asking legislators to do when they gathered in Frankfort
Kentucky Education Association President Stephanie Winkler said she was ‘appalled’ by the governor’s comments, according to NBC5.
The striking Kentucky teachers won a major battle on Friday, when legislators cemented a $480 million tax bill that includes a boost for public school funding.
The state’s protests are part of a political shift that has seen teachers organize grassroots campaigns to flex their political muscle in several states where years of budget cuts that began during the 2008 economic downturn left salaries stagnant and many public schools in disrepair.
The final budget increases base funding for schools to $4,000 per student compared to $3,981 in the current school year, and also funds transportation and employee health insurance costs previously set to be paid for by local school districts.
The state’s protests are part of a political shift that has seen teachers organize grassroots campaigns to flex their political muscle
Kentucky educators promised to return Saturday – on the last day of the legislative session – to ensure all of their demands are met.
The Kentucky Education Association (KEA), the teachers’ union which had previously organized a one-day march earlier this month, estimated that several thousand teachers were at the capital Frankfort on Friday.
‘They filled up the whole plaza from the front door of the capitol,’ KEA spokesman Charles Main told AFP.
‘The slogan of the day, the thought of the day, the message to legislators is: fund our future.’