Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman was in Lexington Thursday to launch her Protect Our Public Schools tour.

The former teacher told a group of educators that she and Governor Andy Beshear have made public education a priority, unlike they say, their opponent, Daniel Cameron, who she says wants to take money away from public schools to fund private ones.

This is the most important fight that we can possibly fight, and I am so glad to be in it with teachers, with school employees, with bus drivers, with parents, with people all across Kentucky who know how important this election is.

We cannot afford four more years of Matt Bevin policies under Daniel Cameron and Rob Mills.

We cannot afford it.

So I heard I heard my opponent in the primary talk a whole lot about how he wanted to take funding from our public schools, put it in private schools.

I heard him perpetuating the crazy conspiracy theories about what was going on in the classroom and what our teachers were doing in our classrooms.

And the minute he gets out of that primary, he goes on an apology tour to all the school groups.

Well, let me tell you something.

It's going to take a whole lot more than an apology tour to undo the damage that has been done by these folks in the last several years.

We are at a crossroads in Kentucky of greater opportunity than we've ever seen before.

20, $26 billion in private investments in Kentucky to create over 50,000 jobs all across this commonwealth.

We've got the largest rainy day fund in Kentucky's history, the largest but largest budget surplus in Kentucky's history.

And, you know, that means we got more than enough money to give our hardworking teachers the long overdue raise they deserve.

To see this progress through, to bring these businesses here that are picking us to move it forward, to grow it, to expand it, all of those things.

Our number one goal is to raise the pay of every single school employee in every building by 11% across the board raise for every school employee.

Because I don't care if you're a cook, a custodian, a counselor, or a chemistry teacher, you are part of the village that our families need.

Every single day.

In August, Republican Daniel Cameron unveiled what he calls the Cameron catch up plan.

He says, to help students bounce back after COVID school closings.

He would start an optional, state funded 16 week tutoring program for students behind in reading and math to take place after school and in the summer.

And he says he would push for a teacher starting salary floor of $41,500 a year.