Kentucky governor expands pre-K pilot programs for two more school systems
Gov. Andy Beshear is expanding his Pre-K for All pilot program to Franklin County Schools and to Glasgow Independent Schools in Barren County, he announced Tuesday.
This comes more than two months after he announced he was launching Pre-K for all pilot programs in Robertson and Rockcastle Counties via executive order. Between all four programs, Beshear said about 3,000 students will be enrolled.
The full-day programs are set to begin in the 2026-2027 school year.
Beshear has long pushed for universal pre-K in Kentucky, but has been unable to get buy-in from the General Assembly. For these pilot programs, he said he is using federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funds, which are for workforce investments.
He is using these funds for this purpose, he said, because “pre-K for all is one of the best ways to increase the size of the workforce and to get parents back in the economy.” Many parents are not in the workforce because of the financial inaccessibility of childcare, the Lantern has reported.
Kentucky governor to launch pre-K pilot programs in two counties
Franklin County Superintendent Mark Kopp, who joined Beshear for the announcement, said about 1,000 kids in the Frankfort area will benefit from the program over the next two years.
“That’s a thousand kids that will have reduced behavioral issues and disciplinary issues, and less that will be chronically absent,” he said. “This is not a hypothesis or an educated guess. Decades of research and the examples of states around us show that kids who attend high-quality preschool programs, like the one we’re launching today, do better and they go further.”
Glasgow Independent Superintendent Chad Muhlenkamp said preschool allows teachers to spend “less time on remediation and more time on teaching.”
In June 2025, Beshear signed an executive order establishing the Pre-K for All Advisory Committee to explore support for universal pre-kindergarten programs in Kentucky. After meeting for several months, the committee recommended that Kentucky phase in expanded access to pre-K over several years.
A fall report from that committee also found about 48% of Kentucky’s kids are ready to learn when they reach kindergarten.
“Preschool is the single most effective way for every child to get the start they need,” said Muhlenkamp. “We know from study after study and our own personal experience: the first five years are crucial. If a student is behind on day one, we spend years playing catch up. Programs like this help all students have the reading, math and social skills they need to start school. This initiative will help put a stop to that gap before it even begins.”
House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, criticized Beshear’s move.
“Yet again, the Governor has proven he can find money when it serves his political priorities,” Osborne said in a statement. “Instead of putting in the work to make state government work better for every Kentuckian, he continues to move money around to create new programs. These one-time spending decisions ignore future funding needs and shift the burden onto others – including school districts and local taxpayers that could very well be left assuming financial responsibility for programs they cannot sustain.”