Educators across the state are running for office

At least forty current or retired educators are seeking legislative seats in Kentucky, part of a national movement of teachers seeking better conditions for the classroom. Of those candidates, sixteen have primary elections today, including four who are challenging GOP incumbents.

The most high-profile race involves republican representative Jonathan Shell, the house majority floor leader and one of the architects of a new law revising the state’s troubled retirement systems.

That law prompted thousands of teachers to protest at the state capitol this year, forcing dozens of school districts to close for a day. R. Travis Brenda, a math teacher at Rockcastle County High School, hopes to capitalize on that anger to defeat shell.