Education Suit Questions Common Core Constitutionality
Parents, teachers, education board members ask Oklahoma state Supreme Court to throw out repeal of Common Core
by Rick Green, NewsOK.com
Parents, teachers and members of the Oklahoma Board of Education asked the state Supreme Court Wednesday to throw out a law repealing Common Core academic standards.
They allege in a petition filed with the court that a bill signed into law by Gov. Mary Fallin on June 5 is unconstitutional because it gives the Legislature too much power to come up with a new set of benchmarks to replace the rigorous math and English standards in Oklahoma schools.
Under House Bill 3399, the state Board of Education would draft new standards, but the Legislature would have the power to change those standards as it sees fit.
This encroaches on the constitutional authority of the board and violates the constitutional principal of separation of powers, the petition says.
“This suit does not contend that the Legislature can have no role in education,” said Robert G. McCampbell, the attorney who filed the legal action. “The policy for schools in Oklahoma is an appropriate role for the Legislature.