Dive Brief:

• Restore Oklahoma Public Education — a group of parents and state Board of Education members organized by the National Associations of State Boards of Education — filed suit against the state last week, arguing that Gov. Mary Fallin's Common Core opt-out is unconstitutional.  
• Under the repeal bill written by State Rep. Jason Nelson, the Oklahoma legislature is asked to help create new state standards, but the State Board of Education believes the power to create standards and oversee instruction belongs to them.  
• Critics of the lawsuit argue that nowhere in the constitution does it say only the state Board of Education has the right to supervise the creation of standards and that the state legislature does have the right to review standards.  

Dive Insight:

The National Review Online spoke with former state attorney general Robert McCampbell, who is representing Oklahoma's Board of Education, and Amy Anne Ford, a member of the board. According to them, the lawsuit is not about the Common Core, but rather the encroachment of power from the state legislature. Whether or not this is fully true is difficult to tell — especially since the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the main funder of the Common Core, has give the NASBE nearly $2 million in grants. In 2011, they received over $1 million "to build the capacity of State Boards of Education to better position them to achieve full implementation of the Common Core standards." And in 2013, they received just under $800,000 "to support a development plan for the organization and its efforts to provide training and information to implement Common Core State Standards.”  Having received so much for the Common Core, it would be surprising to see them walk away without a fight.