Missouri Common Core lawsuit targets testing effort

A new lawsuit targeting one of the two national efforts to create Common Core State Standards tests has just been filed in Missouri.

The suit relates to Missouri’s fiscal involvement with the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC), one of two federally-funded groups that are working on assessments aligned to the Common Core. It reportedly alleges the SBAC is “an illegal interstate compact not authorized by the U.S. Congress” and that makes it illegal for Missouri to send tax dollars there.

While Kentucky is no longer a member of either SBAC or the other testing effort, known as the Program for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), Kentuckians’ federal tax dollars and federal tax dollars from other states have funded SBAC and PARCC to the tune of about $350 million, so far. If PARCC and SBAC are not properly constituted, this would be a national issue.