The Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions (BIPPS) joined with ousted Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) members to file a federal lawsuit challenging Governor Andy Beshear’s executive order reorganizing the KBE body. Beshear was endorsed in November’s campaign against incumbent Matt Bevin by teachers unions after Beshear promised to get rid of the pro-school choice board members and, by proxy, Commissioner Wayne Lewis, PhD, who resigned after Beshear’s new appointees were seated.

Lewis angered unions and their enablers by advocating for more parental school choice and challenging the lack of accountability and improvement, particularly in Louisville’s Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), Kentucky’s largest district. Under Lewis’ leadership, JCPS was placed on probation for its failure to address repeated incidences of abuse involving special-needs students and failure to close the ever-widening achievement gap to turn around longtime failing schools. Lewis also sought to hold teachers accountable for illegally shutting down JCPS for six different days during last year’s legislative session in order to protest proposed school choice and pension reform policies at the Capitol.

BIPPS and the ousted KBE members urge legislators during this year’s General Assembly to create a buffer protecting the commonwealth’s public education system from “brutalities of partisan politics” by ensuring board members serve out their staggered terms. BIPPS Scholar Dr. Gary Houchens noted that ousted KBE members, including himself, should be afforded “the same protections as our teaching peers” who cannot be removed from the classroom without cause or due process.