Gov. Laura Kelly Launches Bold Education Plan To Expand Pre-K, Child Care, Keep Fully Funding Schools

Gov. Kelly is building on her efforts to ensure quality public education in Kansas with a new education plan that focuses on early childhood development, including creating more affordable child care opportunities, expanding full-day pre-k and, of course, keeping schools fully funded.

KAKE reports Gov. Kelly “is also promising to help make child care more accessible and affordable by, in part, working to cut through the red tape surrounding child care in Kansas.”

Gov. Kelly’s education plan also includes an initiative to fully fund special education. Shannon Kimball, president of the Lawrence Board of Education, praised Gov. Kelly’s plan and said, “to know that we could potentially have some relief in that area is comforting.”

Gov. Kelly has put the state back on track, balancing the budget and fully funding schools after years of mismanagement under Sam Brownback and Derek Schmidt. In contrast, Derek Schmidt — Brownback’s biggest cheerleader — has been dogged by his record of defending Brownback’s education cuts and recently could not even explain how he’d be different.

Gov. Kelly’s plan to improve quality education is part of her “The Road Ahead,” strategic blueprint for her second term in office. The governor has already released plans to continue to strengthen Kansas’ economy and lower costs for families, including proposals to “immediately end the state’s tax on grocery purchases, expand by $50 million tax relief to the elderly and create a three-day, back-to-school sales tax holiday.”

“Gov. Kelly has delivered results for Kansas schools in her first four years in office and she has a plan to ensure every child has access to a quality education — from pre-k through graduation,” said DGA Deputy Communications Director Sam Newton. “While Gov. Kelly looks to Kansas’ future, Derek Schmidt wants to move back to the days of chronically underfunded schools under Sam Brownback. The choice for governor couldn’t be clearer.”