Some Kentucky high schoolers continue their legal case against the state.

They say the education system has failed them.

Our Jim Leffler went to yesterday's hearing and Franklin Circuit Court and has this report.

The Kentucky Student Voice team sued the Commonwealth earlier this year.

They allege their education has not prepared them to be truly informed.

Citizens.

Now, some of us go to schools where there aren't enough certified teachers.

Others have to share outdated textbooks or have little to no access to arts, music or extracurriculars that used to be standard in my district, arts education is brushed aside.

It is far from the important facet of Kentucky's curriculum that it once was.

When SB 150, a bill that limits what schools can teach about human sexuality and gender identity, was enacted in 2023.

My school district responded by banning over 100 books.

With these legislative initiatives setting forth a culture of fear and silence in our Kentucky schools, is it any wonder that Kentucky teachers are reluctant to teach relevant political and social topics viewed as controversial?

How are we supposed to grow into informed citizens when teachers aren't allowed to touch on civic topics that directly affect us as Kentucky students?

Their case is rooted in the 1989 Rhodes decision, which affirmed and defined the state's obligation to its students.

It most notably led to the state's current Sikh funding model, which provides more state dollars to poor school districts.

We are asking the court to do what the Constitution demands.

Evaluate whether the Commonwealth is fulfilling its obligation to provide every student with an adequate and equitable education.

Not just in Louisville, not just in Lexington.

Not just in well-funded suburban schools.

Every student, every county, every classroom.

If the answer is no and all the evidence says it is, then our leaders must be ordered to act because they have had decades to fix this.

And they have it.

So now we're here.

People in Kentucky are ready for change.

We'll keep posting forums.

We'll keep testifying.

We'll keep raising awareness about the seven rose capacities.

They are the fundamental building blocks about what an adequate education really means.

Those capacities are oral and written communication, civic knowledge, economic understanding, wellness, the arts, preparation for work, and academic rigor.

At Franklin Circuit Court Tuesday, an attorney for the Commonwealth of Kentucky asked the judge to dismiss the case, saying these students have no standing.

The judge pushed back, saying, quote, students are the entire purpose of our education system, which is a, quote, constitutional public trust, where students are the beneficiaries.

One of Kentucky's assistant attorney generals argued the students provided no proof of, quote, concrete injury such as poor grades or not getting into the College of their choice.

An attorney for the students said, quote, the loss of a constitutional right is an injury.

The judge offered no decision Tuesday.

He asked both parties to file another brief in the next 30 days.

If the students eventually succeed in their case, it's unclear what would be a fix to the system.

Judge Philip Sheppard said Tuesday, quote, I'm at a loss to the remedy that I could impose.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm John Lefler.

Thank you.

June.

State House leaders.

Senate president Robert Stivers and House Speaker David Osborne are also defendants in the suit.

An attorney asked the judge to remove them from the case under legislative immunity.

That motion is under consideration.

Both lawmakers say they're fully funding schools.