LOUISVILLE, Ky. (LEX 18) — Gov. Matt Bevin once again is facing widespread criticism for his comments about teacher sickouts.
Speaking on Thursday at the Louisville Rotary Club, the Republican governor touched on a variety of topics, including foster care and marijuana legalization efforts.
But it was his comments on teacher sickouts that spurred outrage among many educators and others.
“When we had people pretending to be sick when they weren’t sick, and leaving kids unattended to, or in situations that they should not have been in … a little girl was shot, 7 years old, by another kid, because they were somewhere they weren’t intended to be and because the parent didn’t have any option,” Bevin told the gathering.
The comments drew swift rebukes from his major Democratic challengers for the governor’s office and others.
“Governor Bevin’s continued attacks on teachers are disgusting and unforgivable,” a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Democratic Party said in a statement.
Last spring, Bevin stirred outrage with similar remarks in which he insinuated teacher protests left children vulnerable to drug abuse and sexual assault.
The new controversy comes as a new poll finds Bevin is the most unpopular governor in the United States.
The Morning Consult poll is a conducted quarterly by a non-partisan firm based in Washington, D.C.
It’s latest poll shows 52 percent of voters in Kentucky do not approve of Bevin, with only 33 percent approving.
Bevin is up for re-election this year. He faces three other Republicans in the May 21 primary election.
