Missouri judge rules state membership in Common Core testing company illegal, Missouri had agreed to pay yearly dues of $4.3 million to Common Core testing co.

2/25/15, "Missouri judge rules pact with Common Core testing 'illegal'," AP via kspr.com, Jefferson City, Mo.
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"A Missouri judge says the state's membership to a testing company aligned with the national Common Core education standards is illegal and that it shouldn't pay fees to be part of the group.

Cole County Circuit judge Daniel Green ruled Tuesday that the state's partnership with the Common Core testing company is an "illegal interstate compact not authorized by the U.S. Congress."

The attorney general's office represents the state and is reviewing the ruling. Missouri's education department budgeted about $4.3 million for member dues this fiscal year.
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The Common Core education standards and tests aligned with them have been a magnet for critics, including the three plaintiffs in the court case ruled on Tuesday."  
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NextGen science standards seeks to be "consensus model" of US: 

1/28/15, "Kansas, Missouri see temporary truce over Common Core standards," Kansas City Star, Joe Robertson
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"The state also convened work groups on science standards and history and social studies standards — not part of Common Core, but with their own ideological divides.
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The science groups are working with a menu of standards models that includes the Next Generation Science Standards, which carry a similar mission as Common Core to build a consensus model between states.
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Airick Leonard West, a Kansas City school board member serving on the elementary science work group, is encouraged by what he’s seeing. “Partisanship and ideology have taken a backseat to the more pressing concerns of student preparation and teacher support,” West said. The work is carrying on with “urgency” and “professionalism,” he said."...
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2/25/15, "Judge Takes a Swipe at Common Core," The Blaze, Fred Lucas
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"The National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers developed the controversial Common Core education standards. The U.S. Department of Education has tied federal grants to states with adopting Common Core, which critics say makes it a de facto federal program. More than 40 states adopted the standards, but three states have outright repealed it, while numerous others are reviewing or rolling back certain aspects of the standards. .  
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Two private testing companies are involved in administering the exams, Smarter Balance and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers."







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