Salt Lake City, UT (July 31, 2014) — Libertas Institute announces a new lawsuit over Common Core’s adoption in Utah, being filed today in the Third Judicial District Court.
“Two weeks ago, Governor Herbert announced he had asked the Attorney General to investigate legal issues surrounding Common Core,” said Libertas Institute president Connor Boyack. “We have been conducting our own investigation since January and have identified several violations of the law.”
The lawsuit features six plaintiffs denied an opportunity to be consulted prior to establishing new education standards in Utah—an opportunity to which they are entitled by state law. The plaintiffs are:
- Patti Bateman, who was an elementary school teacher at the time of Common Core’s adoption
- David Cox, an elementary school teacher
- Timothy Osborn, who was a member of the Alpine School Board at the time of Common Core’s adoption
- Christel Swasey, a parent of school aged children and licensed educator
- Dr. Gary Thompson, a parent of school aged children
- Steve Whitehouse, a board member of the Maeser Prep Charter School
“Most Utahns believe that local control of education is important,” said Boyack. “We agree, but it’s important to note that local control is not merely about having Utahns managing federal or multi-state programs. The idea behind local control is that the people who are most intimately affected by the product of public education should be involved and able to give input. This did not happen with the adoption of Common Core—and it should have.”
The six-page brief—which petitions the judge for an “order enjoining the Board from further implementing Common Core in Utah’s public schools, from requiring Utah’s public schools to further adopt or abide by Common Core, and from enforcing Common Core in Utah’s public schools”—may be accessed at CommonCoreLawsuit.com.
