JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - A Missouri judge this week ordered the state to stop paying membership fees to an organization that's writing tests for the Common Core educational standards.
Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order for about two weeks to block Missouri from giving taxpayer dollars to the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium.
Common Core opponent Frank Sauer is suing Gov. Jay Nixon for entering into what he calls an "unconstitutional" partnership with the consortium. Anne Gassel and Gretchen Logue are co-plaintiffs. They're also members of the Missouri Coalition Against Common Core.
Gassel said it's an illegal interstate compact not approved by Congress that shouldn't be funded through taxpayer dollars. The court order cited more than $1 million in membership fees billed to the state in September.
A spokeswoman for Attorney General Chris Koster, whose office represents the state and Nixon in the lawsuit, declined to comment.
A spokeswoman for the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium directed inquiries to Executive Director Joe Willhoft and Chief Operating Officer Tony Alpert, who did not respond to an interview request Wednesday.
The lawsuit illustrates tensions in Missouri about whether the state should continue teaching children based on the national learning standards in the Common Core.
The Missouri Coalition Against Common Core and others have fought against those standards, arguing they take away state control over education.
Lawmakers last session passed a bill to review Common Core standards. Teachers and educators in work groups have until October 2015 to make a recommendation to the State Board of Education. They can either suggest keeping them or ditching them for new goals.
But opponents say nixing Common Core is not enough if tests for students still are aligned with them.
State Rep. David Wood, R-Versaille, said this week that he plans on filing legislation in December that would require a Missouri university to draft statewide student assessments.
Others have urged caution about jumping ahead of the work groups' recommendations, which could keep the current Common Core standards in place with little or no changes.
Gassel said she hopes the judge will rule that Missouri no longer can be a part of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, which could push the state further from the Common Core.
"It's a really important case when it comes to local control," Gassel said. "The state should be about the business of setting its own tests (and) developing its own standards."
The restraining order notes that Missouri still will have access to the consortium's assessments without being a member and without paying fees.