Story by Nick Kendall
Contributing writer
The Kentucky Supreme Court unanimously ruled on June 13 that Gov. Matt Bevin was allowed to intervene and overhaul state education boards in 2017.
Attorney General Andy Beshear sued Bevin’s administration two years ago after the Governor reorganized several boards. Beshear stated the Governor was abusing his authority in doing so.
The Court said Bevin properly used the reorganization power to advance the efficiency of public education in the Commonwealth, which the Court affirmed was consistent with the Constitution’s mandate of “promoting Kentucky’s system of common schools.”
“On discretionary review, we find no statutory or constitutional infirmity with the Governor’s use of the executive order to affect a temporary government reorganization on the facts before us, so we affirm the circuit court’s judgment,” the opinion stated.
Gov. Bevin quickly released a statement on the Court’s ruling.
“The Supreme Court’s decision reveals what a shameful waste of taxpayer resources the Attorney General’s three and a half years of politically motivated lawsuits have been,” Bevin said. “The Court forcefully rejected every single one of Andy’s arguments, finding that he ‘ignored’ the constitution and that his positions ‘contradict the plain and explicit text’ of Kentucky law. After such a stinging defeat, the self-proclaimed ‘people’s lawyer’ should, for once, think about actually helping the people of Kentucky instead of suing them.”
Beshear took to Twitter to provide his response.
“In this case, we fought to protect the independence or our public schools,” Beshear wrote. “With this ruling, the governor can dissolve and purge the members of the Board of Education any time he disagrees with their decisions. That is a major concern given this governor’s attacks on public education.”
Beshear will take on Bevin in the November gubernatorial race.
Click here to read the Supreme Court’s opinion.
