In a year marked by waves of teacher activism around the country, it wasn鈥檛 unusual for elected officials to take issue with teachers calling in sick, walking out of classrooms, or holding multiday strikes. What was unusual was the personal and inflammatory tone of Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin鈥檚 comments.
When a Rotary Club member asked the Republican, who is running for re-election, what should be done to stem gun violence, he brought up a 7-year-old girl who was accidentally shot in March.
The girl was home that day after school was canceled when teachers called in sick with 鈥減ension flu鈥� to protest proposed changes to the state鈥檚 public-employee retirement system鈥攕omething they had done several times before last year, Bevin suggested in April.
鈥淥ne thing you almost didn鈥檛 hear anything about while we had people pretending to be sick when they weren鈥檛 sick and leaving kids unattended to or in situations that they should not have been in鈥攁 little girl was shot, 7 years old, by another kid,鈥� he said.
It was a prelude to a governor鈥檚 race where educators, the public鈥檚 support of them鈥攁nd the incumbent鈥檚 polarizing statements鈥攈ave had an outsized influence. In November, Bevin faces Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear, who has an educator as his running mate and has challenged Bevin in court over several education-related issues, including one that led to a stinging defeat for Beshear last week.
Bevin鈥檚 supporters and critics both agree that the governor鈥檚 direct and provocative comments are characteristic of the state leader. In 2018, when schools also closed for teacher activism, he suggested that an unattended student might be sexually assaulted. He later apologized, but the comment was locked in the minds of Kentucky teachers, who were already sparring with the governor over such issues as charter schools and pensions.
鈥淲hen Donald Trump talks about the 鈥榝ailing New York Times,鈥� that鈥檚 something far away that doesn鈥檛 affect us,鈥� said Jeni Bolander, a high school teacher in Lexington. 鈥淏ut when Matt Bevin blames teachers for kids getting sexually assaulted, that鈥檚 someone鈥檚 friends and neighbors.鈥�
Bolander helps organize teachers in her region of the state for 120 Strong, a group of educators that formed to protest proposed pension changes and is named for its presence in each of Kentucky鈥檚 120 counties. In the buildup to the governor鈥檚 race, the group is fanning out to help plant campaign signs and knock on doors in support of Beshear.
The contest is one of three governor鈥檚 races this fall鈥攊n Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi鈥攆ollowed by 11 gubernatorial elections in 2020. Politics watchers often look to odd-year elections for clues about what might happen in larger contests the next year.
In this case, Kentucky observers say, the question is whether the political might the teachers demonstrated in the pension fight will be enough to deliver a Democratic governor in a state where 62.5 percent of voters supported President Donald Trump in the 2016 election.
Bevin was first elected in 2015鈥攔eplacing term-limited Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear, his current opponent鈥檚 father鈥攁nd pundits later said his win should have been seen as a forerunner to Trump鈥檚 largely unexpected victory. Both men are known for tough talk and aggressive plans to remake the governments they lead. Bevin鈥檚 campaign website features multiple photos of the governor interacting with the president, and Trump tweeted support for the governor on the day of the May primary.
Like many southern states, Kentucky has trended red in recent years. The unemployment rate has also dropped during Bevin鈥檚 term, which is usually a strong indicator that an incumbent will be re-elected. Despite the factors working in his favor, Bevin was rated as the least-popular governor in the country in an April comparison of state-level polls released by Morning Consult in April. Thirty-three percent of Kentucky voters surveyed approved of the governor鈥檚 performance, and 52 percent disapproved.
鈥淚 believe most Kentuckians agree with him on the vast majority of his policies, including education policies. Where they disagree with him is on the rhetoric,鈥� said Les Fugate, a Republican political consultant in the state. 鈥淵ou can believe that changes are needed in the pension system and not address it the way he addressed it.鈥�
Pension Protests
Teachers called in sick en masse in 2018 and again this year to protest proposed changes to the state鈥檚 public-employee pension system, which had been cited by Standard & Poor鈥檚 as the worst-funded in the nation. Kentucky educators are not eligible for Social Security, and many were concerned that the state wouldn鈥檛 honor its obligations. The Republican-controlled legislature failed to pass bills that would have cut cost-of-living adjustments to help stem the crisis.
Beshear successfully sued after Bevin signed a pension-reform bill that legislators had tacked onto an unrelated measure shortly before it passed.
But last week the state supreme court unanimously rejected Beshear鈥檚 lawsuit over the governor鈥檚 sweeping reorganization in 2017 of boards and committees overseeing public education. Bevin, in a statement, denounced what he called 鈥減olitically motivated lawsuits鈥� and accused his rival of 鈥渁 shameful waste of taxpayer resources.鈥� Beshear said the ruling means 鈥渢he governor can dissolve and purge the members of the Board of Education any time he disagrees with their decisions.鈥�
Beshear also won favor with teachers when he sued to block Bevin from subpoenaing school districts for names of teachers who鈥檇 participated in sickouts. His running mate is Jacqueline Coleman, an assistant high school principal.
鈥淭his race is not about what鈥檚 going on in Washington, D.C.,鈥� Beshear told supporters when he won the primary. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not about right versus left. Folks, it鈥檚 about right versus wrong.鈥�
Beshear has proposed funding the pension system with revenue generated by legalizing and taxing gambling and marijuana.
Bevin supporters note that Beshear鈥檚 father missed a chance to stabilize the pension system.
Stephanie Winkler, the outgoing president of the Kentucky Education Association, said that鈥檚 because the elder Beshear鈥檚 term overlapped with the 2008 financial crisis. Bevin鈥檚 plans to fully fund the pension system have come at a cost, she said, adding that his comments about teachers threatened to diminish public trust in the profession.
Bevin, whose running mate is Ralph Alvarado, a doctor and state lawmaker, counts among his supporters Vice President Mike Pence, who visited in March to campaign for him in the primary.
鈥淗e鈥檚 delivered on the promises he made to the people of Kentucky,鈥� Pence said.
Pence noted that per-pupil education funding had risen to an all-time high during Bevin鈥檚 first term, a claim repeated on Bevin鈥檚 website. He didn鈥檛 mention that situation occurred after lawmakers, under pressure from teachers, overrode Bevin鈥檚 veto of a budget bill.
In addition to touting his pension reforms, Bevin鈥檚 website notes that he 鈥渟upports school choice.鈥� The governor signed a bill clearing the way for charter schools in the state, though it came without a funding mechanism. And he met with U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos as she pitched a plan for tax-credit scholarships for private schools.
Beshear鈥檚 platform notes that he supports 鈥渟trong public education鈥� but does not outline specific policy proposals.
鈥淯sually, education policy is the area that all of the candidates like to say nice things about but doesn鈥檛 rise up to a level of controversy that voters are really motivated by it,鈥� said Stephen Voss, a political science professor at the University of Kentucky. 鈥淗ere we鈥檝e got candidates setting up stark difference in the direction they鈥檇 like education to go, so voters have a rare choice.鈥�
That divide has motivated groups like 120 Strong, but some have questioned whether that energy, and the group鈥檚 wide geographic reach, will translate into results, said Danny Briscoe, a Kentucky Democratic political consultant.
The group was also active in the 2018 election, in which Republicans maintained control of both chambers of the state legislature, picking up a seat in the Senate and losing one in the House.
鈥淚t didn鈥檛 look like the teachers did what people thought they might do,鈥� Briscoe said. 鈥淭hey made their case, but they didn鈥檛 make a showing at the ballot box.鈥�
Bolander rejected that critique. Some of the candidates the group supported were Republicans, she said, adding that public-employee benefits shouldn鈥檛 be seen as a partisan issue.
Among the candidates, voters elected two Republican educators, including math teacher Travis Brenda, who unseated House Majority Floor Leader Jonathan Shell, the lawmaker who proposed the controversial pension changes.
鈥淭hat was 100 percent due to the hard work of teachers canvassing and going door-to-door,鈥� Bolander said.
