The candidates for lieutenant governor have only appeared on TV together once.

And it was last night right here on KCET.

Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman and Republican State Senator Robbie Mills talked about a host of issues, including jobs, energy and education.

The education talk included a discussion about vouchers and whether Kentuckians should be able to vote on a constitutional amendment on public money for private schools.

They're using this voucher as a red herring.

If I had test scores like they have in the last four years and they called themselves an education administration, I'd be looking for a red herring, too.

We have not talked about vouchers in this campaign at all.

But I think we can actually offer opportunity and choices in education as well as take care of public education.

So the governor can't veto a constitutional amendment.

That's not how that works.

But do you support that going on the ballot in 2024?

My understanding is that it's going to be talked about.

I haven't seen the bill.

I'd like to read the bill first.

It's a very complicated issue because we have all kinds of things, you know, education, opportunity, accounts, vouchers, charters, open borders.

There's all kinds of choice legislation.

As to the accounts.

Of course, the Supreme Court struck that down.

That's exactly right.

But my point is that I would like to see the bill before I talk about, you know.

Do you on a general principle support school choice options?

I believe that it's important to offer our kids the best choice that they can have for their education, whether it's vouchers or open borders, which we have now.

I think it's important kids get trapped in schools that they can't learn in, and they need to have the opportunity to move around and find the education that's best for them.

Here's what voters deserve.

Voters deserve to make two.

To know that the schools and their communities are the best they can possibly be.

So the way that you do that is you put students first.

You support our teachers and you make sure our schools have what they need to do, what we need them to do.

That has not been the case for a very long time in Kentucky.

And our voters deserve to know that when they send their kids to school, it shouldn't matter the zip code.

It shouldn't have to be that they have to move around.

It should be that every school is the best it can be.

Otherwise, your zip code determines your opportunity.

And I can answer your question very, very simply.

I don't agree with the charter school amendment being being on the ballot.

I don't I don't support charter schools.

I don't support school voucher schemes because, again, you're taking public tax dollars and you're sending them to unaccountable private schools.

That is not just a bad decision for our schools that would decimate, by the way, rural communities.

It is a bad deal for our taxpayers to not know how their taxes are being spent.

Later on the program, the candidates talked about Governor Bashir's call for an 11% raise for educators.

This is another empty promise on teacher raises.

This makes their third promise that they're making to teachers.

That has not been fulfilled at all.

Now.

The budget we have proposed has had raises for teachers.

We have followed, but they didn't give us the people who don't believe teachers are worthy of a raise.

Is the General Assembly?

Well, Mr. Mills, this point is you can make the proposal, but it's up to the Kentucky General Assembly to endorse it.

And they did not oppose it.

Now you have to have a relationship with the legislature to get your proposed raises through the General Assembly so we can do that.

They've proven not to be able to do.

That in law enforcement.

State employees and social workers make it through then.

And the only group that didn't make it through was teachers.

It's the same relationship.

If you want to see the full hour long program from last night, go online on demand to Katie Dawgs slash K-Y tonight.

You can also see our other candidate conversations on Kentucky tonight, including our conversations with the candidates for governor that we had on October 23rd.

Go check it out.