Opinion – Student Voice Team: Why we are suing the Commonwealth for right to ‘quality education’


By Ellen Mueller, Ivy Litton, and Khoa Ta
Student Voice Team

We’ve just left the Franklin County Court House after filing a lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It’s a big step for us, one we take not out of anger or defiance, but out of hope and determination. We’re Kentucky students who care deeply about and believe in the potential of our state and our future, and we know that the promise of education in Kentucky is too important to let it continue to fall short.

The Kentucky Constitution guarantees every student the right to a quality public education.

The Student Voice Team on the steps of the Franklin County Courthouse (Photo provided)

This right was defined over three decades ago in the landmark Rose v. Council for Better Education decision, which set clear expectations for what our schools must provide: critical skills, civic understanding, and preparation for meaningful lives and careers. That decision led to the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), a groundbreaking law that brought the state national acclaim for improving education outcomes.

But today, that progress has stalled—and in many ways, reversed. The legacy of Rose has wilted.

Too many of us attend schools that fail to meet the constitutional standard of a “quality education.” Glaring disparities in funding and resources, teacher shortages, inadequate mental health support, and outdated curricula are leaving Kentucky students—especially those in underserved communities—without the opportunities we deserve.

We’ve seen it firsthand. We’ve watched our peers struggle to learn in overcrowded classrooms, take civics exams without exposure first to comprehensive instruction about how the government works, and grapple with mental health challenges without access to counselors. Kentucky ranks 45th in the nation for starting teacher pay. Is it any wonder that so many students and educators feel abandoned by the system?

To be clear, this lawsuit is not about pinning the blame on teachers, principals, or school and even district staff. We see their dedication every day as they work tirelessly to overcome systemic challenges. Rather, it is about holding decision-makers in Frankfort accountable for failing to provide the resources and support our schools need to succeed.

We didn’t come to this decision lightly. Over the past few years, as members of the Kentucky Student Voice Team, we’ve surveyed and interviewed over 25,000 students, held forums with families and educators, and participated in state, district, and school-level committees. These conversations have made it indisputably clear that Kentucky’s leaders can—and must—do more to fulfill their constitutional obligation to every student.

Our complaint, filed alongside individual student plaintiffs and their families, focuses on critical areas in which the system is failing us. Consider just a few:

• Oral and Written Communication Skills: Only 41% of Kentucky 8th graders are proficient in reading. On top of that, schools don’t have the funding or stable staffing to meet the state academic standards and teach the deeper skills like writing and critical analytic skills that aren’t measured on standardized tests.
 

• Civics Education: Kentucky is one of just 11 states with no civics course requirement. Many students graduate without a basic understanding of government processes, leaving them unprepared to engage in civic life.

• Mental Health Support: Nearly one in five high school students in Kentucky has seriously considered suicide, yet many Kentucky schools lack adequate mental health personnel.

• Funding Disparities: The gap between wealthy and low-income districts has grown to levels once deemed unconstitutional, leaving students in poorer areas with fewer resources and opportunities.

We’re calling on Kentucky to address these issues through fair funding, better teacher pay, smaller class sizes, reliable transportation, and more inclusive curricula.

But this lawsuit goes beyond ourselves and the courtroom. In addition to filing our legal complaint, we’re launching public hearings across the state to gather ideas from students, families, educators, and others with first-hand experience and expert knowledge. We want every Kentuckian to have a say in redefining the future of our education system.

We know that lawsuits take time, and many of us will not directly benefit from the outcome of this one. But we believe this effort is worth it because Kentucky’s public schools—and the students who depend on them—are worth fighting for.

So we stand on the steps of the court house as children of the Rose Generation who refuse to be ignored, and as Kentucky students demanding what we were promised: a quality education that prepares us to succeed and contribute to our communities. We also stand as a testament that Kentucky youth are more than ready to serve as partners in ensuring Kentucky schools are the best they can possibly be.

Ellen Mueller, Ivy Litton, and Khoa Ta are high school students from Scott, Rowan, and Daviess counties respectively. They are also members of the Kentucky Student Voice Team, the organizational plaintiff behind Kentucky Student Voice Team v. The Commonwealth of Kentucky.


One thought on “Opinion – Student Voice Team: Why we are suing the Commonwealth for right to ‘quality education’

  1. A great development in the ongoing education reform movement. The current disparities in education funding among school districts are, as the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy has documented, worse than they were before the Rose v. Council case was brought. For every conceivable reason. The legislature and executive need to act together to address these issues.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *