(LEX 18) — On Tuesday, a group of students, their families, and members from the Kentucky Student Voice Team (KSVT) filed a lawsuit against the Commonwealth, saying that the state has "failed to fulfill its constitutional obligation to provide all students with an adequate and equitable public education."
“We are Kentucky students, we are here today because we care about the commonwealth and our future, we are here today because we refuse to accept the status quo when it comes to our education,” said one student who is involved in the lawsuit.
A release from the KSVT provided a list of critical issues that the lawsuit said undermine the quality of education in Kentucky including the following:
- Declining literacy skills: Only 41% of Kentucky 8th graders are proficient or above in reading. (2023-24 Kentucky Summative Assessment)
- Lack of civics education: Kentucky is one of just 11 states without a civics course requirement, leaving students unprepared to engage in government processes and civic life. (2023 Committee for Economic Development)
- Mental health crises: In 2023, nearly 1 in 5 (18.6%) of Kentucky high school students reported seriously considering taking their own lives. (Kentucky Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2023) Yet many Kentucky schools lack adequate counseling resources, with some schools having no counselors at all.
- Limited Arts Availability:18.5% of Kentucky schools report offering no visual or performing arts class of any kind. (2023 Kentucky School Report Card)
- Severe academic disparities: There are vast differences in achievement between Kentucky districts, in many cases of over 70 percentage points. (2023 Kentucky School Report Card)
“We want to be clear, this lawsuit does not target any individual Kentucky schools, principals, teachers or school districts,” another student said during the press conference.
The KSVT partnered with Kaplan, Johnson, Abate, and Bird, experts from Teachers College at Columbia University and Harvard Law School, to craft the complaint.
“The Kentucky Constitution guarantees every student the right to a quality public education,” said Khoa Ta, a policy coordinator for the KSVT and a junior at Daviees County High School. "This right was clarified in the 1989 Rose v. Council for Better Education decision. But today, the legacy of Rose is wilted as its promises have gone unfulfilled for far too many Kentucky students.”
According to the release, the next steps include a year-long series of public hearings, which will be used to gather ideas and insights from stakeholders across Kentucky. The hearings will gather recommendations on improving Kentucky's schools and holding decision-makers accountable.
A spokesperson from the Attorney General's Office said they are reviewing the lawsuit and don't have any comment at this time.
