After some uncertainty over his stance on early childhood education, Republican gubernatorial candidate Matt Bevin says his words have been misconstrued and he supports spending on the earliest stages of education as long as the money is being spent wisely.
On the issue of early childhood education, Bevin’s remarks have caused some stir and prompted the Courier-Journal to do a detailed article on the GOP candidate’s remarks on the issue.
During the campaign, Bevin has said he believes the money spent on early childhood education programs, like Head Start, have not been getting the return on investment that the state needs to be seeing.
In his interview with the Kentucky Chamber, Bevin said he wants to see that change.
“I am a strong proponent of education from beginning to end. When we are using taxpayer dollars, let’s make sure we are getting a good return on them. But throwing good money after bad is a bad idea. And what I said specifically that people keep referring back to and then trying to say it was to all blanket education, the Head Start program we have spent well over $170 billion on this program since its inception. We are not getting a return on that,” Bevin said. “And I would defy anybody who has been a part of that system…to come and do an interview with you and make an articulate and fact-based case for why I am wrong. They can’t do it.”
As for how money should be spent on early childhood education, Bevin said the state should be paying attention to exactly where the education dollars are going on all levels and possibly base the funding on performance.
“I call very specifically for being smart with where we spend money, even in the early childhood education. Not that we don’t spend it, quite the opposite, but let’s be smart about where we spend it. Let’s look for outcomes based funding at that level as well, not just the post-secondary level,” Bevin said (at 1:30).
Watch the full segment below:
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