Brent Regan, chairman of the board of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, is the lead plaintiff in a new federal lawsuit filed against Gov. Butch Otter, state schools Superintendent Sherri Ybarra and state Board of Education President Don Soltman charging that the Idaho core standards for student learning and the tests tied to them are illegal.

Regan and nine other individuals described as “Idaho taxpayers and residents of the state of Idaho” charge that the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, or SBAC, which developed the test, is “an illegal interstate compact not authorized by the U.S. Congress.” Attorneys for the plaintiffs are Bryan Smith, who unsuccessfully challenged 2^nd District Rep. Mike Simpson in the GOP primary in 2014, and Christ Troupis, who unsuccessfully challenged Attorney General Lawrence Wasden in the same primary election.

Idaho EdNews reporter Kevin Richert has a full report here on the lawsuit, including a link to the 36-page complaint filed today in U.S. District Court.

Regan, a North Idaho businessman and medical device engineer, served on the Coeur d'Alene School Board for less than a year after being appointed to the position in 2012; he was defeated in a May 2013 election in which he highlighted his GOP partisan credentials, though the position was non-partisan. Two months after joining the board, Regan publicly apologized after making a racially insensitive joke about President Barack Obama at a legislative forum. During this year's legislative session, Regan filled in briefly for Sen. Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens, and took the opportunity to vociferously oppose child-support enforcement legislation. The bill died, prompting Otter to call lawmakers back for a special session at which it then passed.