Common Core critics sue N.D. over membership in testing organization

BISMARCK, N.D. -- Critics of the new Common Core education standards have filed a lawsuit against the state over its membership in the consortium that developed new standardized tests administered to students this year.
They contend North Dakota's membership in the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium violates the Compact Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The clause states that "(n)o state shall, without the consent of Congress ... enter into any agreement or compact with another state."
"As the Smarter Balanced Consortium is an interstate compact which Congress did not authorize, its existence is a violation of the Constitution," states a press release from the Michigan-based Thomas More Law Center, which has joined with D. John Sauer, a Missouri attorney, to file the lawsuit.
North Dakota is one of more than a dozen states to join the consortium.
The suit names State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler, Gov. Jack Dalrymple, State Treasurer Kelly Schmidt, the Department of Public Instruction and office of the state treasurer as defendants.
Sauer flew to North Dakota earlier this year to testify in favor of a bill to rid the state of the Common Core standards. He is also a lead attorney in a case against Missouri's membership in the same consortium.
Plaintiffs in the North Dakota suit include Steve Cates, a Bismarck resident who has testified in front of the Legislature against the standards; state Rep. Robert Skarphol, R-Tioga; and Catherine and Charles Cartier of Williston.