At-Will Employment and Right-to-Work Are Not the Same
At-will employment and right-to-work are not the same. At-will governs termination for any legal reason. Right-to-work limits collective bargaining power. In Kentucky public schools, neither concept should be construed to strip employees of protections the law already loosely provides.
But it happens every day across our Commonwealth – an uncomfortable truth that no one wants to talk about. No one wants to fix it. And our Education Support Professionals suffer from it daily. What’s worse is that our students suffer from the inconsistency this creates, too.
Public School Employees Are Not Without Protections
While Kentucky is generally an at-will state, public school employees work under statutory and contractual frameworks established in 1992 by the Kentucky General Assembly and administered through local districts under the oversight of the Kentucky Department of Education.
For 34 years, those laws have required written contracts or working agreements and impose procedural safeguards. Districts do not have unlimited discretion, despite some’s claims.
Certified and Classified Employees Are Treated Differently
Certified employees are granted clear and specific statutory due process protections, including notice and hearing rights.
Classified employees, more often referred to as Education Support Professionals (bus drivers, aides, custodians, and clerical staff), do not have clear statutory protections, but they are also not at-will employees.
When a district hires someone, assigns duties, pays wages, and continues employment within a defined school-year structure, legal obligations attach. A district cannot simply ignore the requirement to provide employees with written agreements under KRS Ch. 161 and then claim the position was at-will.
Public employers cannot legally benefit from their own failure to comply with the law. As long as they have no oversight, they will continue unchecked.
Education Support Professionals Continue to Show Up
At the same time, Education Support Professionals continue to show up every day for the students in their districts.
They drive the buses before sunrise, keep buildings clean and safe, prepare meals, support instruction, and ensure schools function smoothly; and often while fearful of retaliation for raising concerns about inconsistent contracts, unclear policies, and uneven enforcement.
Despite frustration with employment conditions and the lack of consistent oversight, they remain committed to the children and communities they serve.
Their professionalism and dedication should not be met with indifference or administrative shortcuts.
Public Employees Deserve Consistency, Transparency, and Due Process
I believe strongly that public employees deserve consistency, transparency, and due process. Public employees should not bear the harm caused by shifting interpretations of policy.
If the law requires written working agreements, then those agreements must be issued and honored. If statutes create protections, then those protections must be enforced.
I am already addressing this problem from the bottom-up.
Stronger Oversight and Worker Protections
As your next Kentucky State Senator, I will push from the top-down for stronger oversight of the Kentucky Department of Education and our local districts, including mandatory compliance audits and meaningful enforcement mechanisms when public employment laws are violated.
I will also work to repeal Kentucky’s “Right to Work” law so that Education Support Professionals can fully exercise collective bargaining power to strengthen wages, working conditions, and staffing stability.
Accountability and Worker Voice Are Not Partisan Issues
Accountability and worker voice are not partisan issues. They are essential to maintaining a stable, high-quality public education system so that the children of our future are built for success.
I will fight to make sure the law protects the people it was written to protect.