A Franklin Circuit judge will allow a group of students and the nonprofit Kentucky Student Voice Team to move forward with a lawsuit arguing public schools aren't providing an adequate education under the state constitution.
Judge Phillip Shepherd denied a request from the Kentucky Attorney General’s office to dismiss the 2025 lawsuit on Thursday. Shepherd said in his long-awaited ruling that students have a direct stake in the outcome of such a constitutional challenge and rejected the Kentucky attorney general’s argument that the students don’t have the right to bring the suit.
“Plaintiffs, who are public school students and an organization whose purpose is to advance the educational interests of public school students, have a unique stake in the outcome in litigation alleging that the public school system as established by the General Assembly falls short of constitutional requirements,” Shepherd said in his opinion.
Shepherd’s opinion does not address the merits of the case. He wrote that many more constitutional issues will have to be argued before the court — the scope of the legislature’s constitutional duty, how much courts should defer to their decisions and potential remedies.
Will Powers, policy director with the Kentucky Student Voice Team, told Kentucky Public Radio the judge’s opinion was “profound” and showed he understood the underlying purpose of their case.
“It's significant to know that the judge understands the issue and the purpose of the case,” Powers said. “We are excited for this first step, but also acknowledging that this is the first step in a long, yearslong process.”
A spokesperson for the Attorney General’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.
Lawyers for the students describe it as a revival of the landmark 1989 Kentucky Supreme Court decision in Rose v. Council for Better Education. After the court made a declaratory judgment more than three decades ago that the state's education system was indeed constitutionally deficient, the state legislature enacted major reforms, known as the Kentucky Education Reform Act.
The students argue the state has backslid since then, pointing to lack-luster test scores, allegedly poor civics education and school funding they say hasn’t kept up with inflation. The courts must once again declare the education system unconstitutionally inadequate, they argue in the lawsuit.
Luisa Sanchez, a 17-year-old student at Boyle County High School, is a named plaintiff in the case. She said she is “grateful” to Shepherd for the decision and excited to see the lawsuit begin progressing again.
“When these institutions are not functioning as intended, that produces harm for all Kentuckians, not just those receiving an inadequate education,” Sanchez said. “So I was so glad that the judge was able to see that we have standing.”
The leaders of the General Assembly — Senate President Robert Stivers and House Speaker David Osborne — were named as defendants in the case, but argued for legislative immunity to be removed. Shepherd also rejected that argument in his Thursday ruling, saying that “such immunity is not unlimited.” Stivers declined to comment.
A spokesperson for Osborne said in a statement the House won’t comment on a specific case but is “naturally concerned.”
“Judge Shepherd’s ruling disrespects both the Supreme Court’s recent unanimous ruling defending the legislature’s immunity from suit, and instead usurps the legislature’s function,” according to the statement.
The ruling allowing the case to move forward comes as the legislature crafts its next two-year budget, of which education funding is a major component. The Republican-controlled General Assembly has frequently expressed concern about the status of some of Kentucky's public schools, especially in the state’s largest urban districts. Legislation to promote accountability and targeting school leadership have been a major theme of the session thus far.
This story has been updated to include additional comments.
