“People talk a lot about vision. Well my vision is this: I want to create a Kentucky where every child — regardless of whether he or she is born in the inner city, in a mountain hollow, on a farm or in the suburbs — every child is guaranteed the potential for a life of promise and meaning. A Kentucky where every child is given the opportunity and the ability to succeed.

We’re not there yet.

Too many Kentucky children get a poor start in life. Too many children enter school with preventable health problems, with undeveloped minds, with no sense of curiosity or engagement in life around them. They start out behind and never catch up. We must do better.

Kentucky was once the land of invention, innovation and ingenuity. But that energy has been eroded by fundamental weaknesses in how we educate and care for our youngest children.

For too long, these weaknesses have been ignored or tolerated. No longer. Over the last four years, we’ve been attacking those flaws … and in the next four years we will accelerate our efforts. We will continue to find health insurance for uncovered children … to improve dental care … to make sure our children have enough to eat … and to prevent chronic problems by reducing smoking.

We will continue restructuring our preschool and day-care programs to ensure every child is mentally and physically prepared for kindergarten the day he or she enters the classroom. And we will continue tuning up our education infrastructure at every level — from preschool through college — to improve its fundamental mission.”

See the full remarks here:

Full Address

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