KY students’ lawyer tells judge they have right to sue for better public education

Members of the Kentucky Student Voice Team code reporters aft a tribunal proceeding successful Frankfort, May 13, 2025. (Kentucky Lantern photograph by McKenna Horsley)

FRANKFORT — Questions astir the close of Kentucky students to writer for a amended nationalist acquisition strategy were heard successful tribunal Tuesday. It’s 1 of the archetypal steps successful what could beryllium a multi-year suit against authorities officials that harkens backmost to a landmark determination rendered decades ago. 

Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd heard arguments from some sides for astir 2 hours. Attorneys for the students, immoderate of whom are members of the Kentucky Student Voice Team, said the students are entitled to payment from high-quality nationalist acquisition and person a close to prosecute the case. Meanwhile, Republican Attorney General Russell Coleman’s bureau argued that the students are making claims astir a “metaphysical” wounded and deficiency lasting to sue. 

Now, Shepherd indispensable see whether to judge the lawyer general’s question to disregard the lawsuit oregon let the students’ assertion to proceed. He besides indispensable see a question to disregard by House Speaker David Osborne and Senate President Robert Stivers, the apical Republicans successful the General Assembly and defendants successful the suit.

The Kentucky Student Voice Team (KSVT), which has astir 100 members crossed the state, is simply a nonprofit enactment and a spinoff of the Prichard Committee, a statewide radical that successful the 1980s organized grassroots enactment for schoolhouse betterment successful Kentucky. KSVT’s presumption relies heavy connected the Kentucky Supreme Court ruling successful Rose v. Council for Better Education, often cited arsenic the Rose decision, which was a 1989 landmark decision that prompted wide changes to Kentucky’s nationalist acquisition system. 

After that decision, the General Assembly successful 1990 passed a penny summation successful the income taxation to money the Kentucky Education Reform Act. At the time, the Supreme Court said that Kentucky students “must beryllium provided with an adjacent accidental to person an capable education.” The Rose determination besides provided the ground for akin lawsuits to beryllium filed successful different states. 

The students filed their lawsuit against the authorities and General Assembly successful January. They allege that the authorities authorities has “failed to support the level of committedness to acquisition required” by Kentucky’s Constitution and past tribunal decisions and “failed to conscionable their work to show the ratio of the acquisition system.” The students besides assertion the Kentucky Board of Education and Department of Education “have failed to guarantee the state’s acquisition strategy is constitutionally compliant.”

Attorney General Coleman’s bureau represents the authorities successful the case. Coleman filed a question to disregard KSVT’s ailment successful February. He argued that the students are asking Shepherd to “do what the Rose tribunal was unwilling to do: supplant the relation of the General Assembly successful deciding what constitutes ‘appropriate legislation’ to supply for an businesslike schoolhouse system.” 

“The alleviation the Plaintiffs question is not of the benignant this Court tin assistance — and adjacent if it could, the Plaintiffs person not demonstrated lasting and person failed to articulation indispensable parties,” Coleman wrote. 

While Shepherd questioned him, Aaron Silletto of the lawyer general’s bureau argued that past tribunal cases connected law claims necessitate anyone seeking remedies to amusement however they person been affected individually. He said the students’ archetypal complaint, which was 70 pages agelong and included respective allegations astir the existent authorities of Kentucky education, had generalized situations that weren’t circumstantial to the students listed arsenic parties successful the lawsuit. 

“A factual wounded means not thing that is conscionable theoretical oregon metaphysically imaginable oregon thing similar that. … Here, we person a laundry database of complaints astir the system, but not 1 of these claims has said successful either the amended complaint, the archetypal complaint, oregon successful response, thing much astir however that strategy has injured them, arsenic opposed to conscionable being a deficiency  successful the strategy that’s successful the air,” Silletto said. 

Michael Abate, 1 of the attorneys representing the students, countered, saying that denying idiosyncratic a law close is harmful successful itself. Among their allegations, the students accidental they missed retired connected acquisition opportunities by not being provided with opportunities successful schoolhouse to deliberation critically oregon sermon analyzable and delicate issues. 

“The nonaccomplishment of a law close is an injury,” Abate said. 

Shepherd represented the Prichard Committee successful the archetypal Rose case. In his pressing of Silletto connected the contented of the students’ standing, Shepherd said that helium views nationalist acquisition not arsenic “an idiosyncratic activity” but alternatively a commodity for a assemblage astatine large. 

Osborne and Stivers are seeking to beryllium dismissed arsenic parties to the lawsuit. Eric Lycan, who is the wide counsel for the House speaker’s office, said successful tribunal that they person legislative immunity nether erstwhile tribunal decisions. In 2022, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that legislators were immune from claims brought by the enforcement subdivision challenging the constitutionality of definite laws. 

“I would besides accidental that this legislature takes precise earnestly the law work to supply citizens with communal schools, and if it is the volition of the tribunal that the existent strategy is unconstitutional, the legislature stands acceptable and consenting to remake the acquisition strategy from the crushed up,” Lycan said.  

Members of the KSVT held a property league aft the hearing. The students emphasized that the changes they are seeking spell beyond a triumph successful the courtroom and called for others invested successful nationalist acquisition to enactment them.

“Our leaders person a prime to make — proceed to disregard the glaring issues successful our nationalist schools that are threatening to destruct them oregon usage this once-in-a-generation accidental to marque lasting alteration for the betterment of Kentucky students for generations to come,” said Ivy Litton, a subordinate of KSVT. “Kentucky has led the federation successful presumption of world excellence before, and we tin bash it again.”

Because caller flooding successful Frankfort damaged the courthouse downtown, the Tuesday proceeding was held successful the Kentucky Court of Appeals gathering connected Chamberlin Avenue. 

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