LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Governor Matt Bevin is continuing his feud with Kentucky teachers.
In a radio interview airing in Cincinnati, Bevin says he believes the sickouts earlier this year were so the teachers could get paid time off from work.
The comments took place during an interview with Brian Thomas on 55 WKRC.
In late February and early March, large numbers of teachers called in sick and traveled to Frankfort to protest a bill that would alter teachers’ pension benefits.
Thomas asked Bevin about the more than 1,000 teachers that were recently found guilty by the Labor Cabinet of violating state law and creating a work stoppage during that time.
Bevin questioned the timing of those protests.
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“It’s interesting though that people enjoy doing it – stopping work, when they get paid anyway. But when they’re not getting paid to stop work, it is remarkable nobody seems to be that interested. They don’t care quite as much,” he said in the interview.
Thomas responded with laughter saying he found it comical and revealing.
During a special summer session, legislation only included pensions for employees of quasi-governmental organizations and state universities.
The Kentucky Education Association responded to the governor’s comments, saying:
“Based on his comments, we can only assume that Governor Bevin didn’t understand the pension legislation he and his staff wrote and dictated in detail to the General Assembly during the recent Special Session. Anyone who is familiar with that legislation knows that it was not the same bill educators protested a few months ago. Educators protest to influence governmental action that affects public schools and public school students, not to get out of work that they love and believe in. For the Governor to suggest otherwise is, unfortunately, typical.”
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