JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – Missouri House Speaker John Diehl says the state will strip $4.5 million in funding for membership to a group that makes tests for the national Common Core education standards.

Diehl said Wednesday that cutting the money will ensure Missouri’s partnership with the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium ends.

Common Core guidelines for educating children in K-12 schools have attracted critics, who say they were adopted without enough local input.

Supporters say they create consistent, rigorous standards across state lines.

Diehl’s proposal follows a Tuesday ruling by a Cole County circuit judge that Missouri’s partnership with the Common Core testing group is unconstitutional. But the education department says that doesn’t prevent them from buying the tests.

A spokeswoman for the state attorney general’s office, which represents Missouri, says they’re reviewing the ruling.