Public school advocates gathered at the Kentucky Capitol Annex on Thursday to urge lawmakers to increase education funding, requesting an additional $718 million more per year for K-12 schools.Jessica Hiler, a Fayette County tea cher, joined Protect Our Schools Kentucky in making the case for additional resources."We have schools that are starving for resources. We have teachers that are underpaid and we need [lawmakers] to continue to invest in schools," Hiler said.The funding request comes as new polling shows strong public support for education investment.According to Protect Our Schools Kentucky, 70% of Kentuckians support reinvestment in public schools, with backing across political lines including 96% of Democrats and 54% of Trump voters.The poll found Kentuckians support an 8% raise for teachers and other school employees, hiring 5% more staff to reduce class sizes, expanding preschool programs, and adding mental health counselors.Hiler emphasized how these improvements could transform Kentucky schools."We'd have the resources that they need. The books, the textbooks, the things that they need. The facilities that they need - there are a lot of schools that really need upgrades, so we need facility upgrades as well. And then, we could have smaller class sizes. That's huge. That's huge. If we had more teachers, we could have smaller class sizes," Hiler said.Republican leaders in the General Assembly have not yet released their draft state budget. However, they have previously told reporters that they've increased school funding over the years through the SEEK formula, the state's primary funding mechanism for schools. Republican leaders prefer this approach because it allows school districts to decide how to spend additional money.Protect Our Schools Kentucky advocates for a different approach, preferring the $718 million be given to the base which could be allocated for raises, additional teachers, and enhanced resources. ...read more read less