MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin residents who oppose the new Common Core K-12 academic standards may have an important new ally.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who has been quiet on the issue until now, recently told the Wisconsin Reporter that the state could replace the national standards with its own set of stronger academic standards.

The governor also called on the Joint Legislative Council to follow through on a directive that was included in the state budget to do a study on the cost and possible effects of Common Core and host a series of public hearings on the topic.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

“I’d like the legislature to hold those hearings,” Walker was quoted as saying. “And in the larger context I’d like us to be in the position to where we can identify our own unique standards that I think in many ways will be higher and more aggressive than the ones they’re talking about.”

Walker’s statement may come too late to make much of a difference for Wisconsin schools. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers signed the state up for the Common Core language arts and math standards in 2010. Forty-four other states and the District of Columbia also signed on, after being lured by the Obama administration with a promise of a waiver from No Child Left Behind requirements.

School districts are already implementing Common Core standards, and they are scheduled to be in full use in all state schools by next fall.

Despite that, a growing number of state residents have been questioning Common Core for a variety of reasons. Many feel it’s the first step toward an unconstitutional takeover of public education by the federal government. They also note that the standards are untested, call them watered-down, and note that more state standardized testing will be necessary.

Critics also resent the quiet way it was approved for the state by one man – Evers – with limited public information and no open debate.

Many opponents have been pressuring state Sen. Luther Olsen and state Rep. Joan Ballweg, the chairs of the Joint Legislative Council, to follow the directive of the state budget and conduct the study and schedule the hearings.

MORE NEWS: How to prepare for face-to-face classes

But Olsen has yet to budge, noting that he hasn’t received any direction from Senate leaders about how to proceed, and that Joint Legislative Council studies are generally conducted in even-numbered years.

Karen Schroeder, a Wisconsin activist and president of Advocates for Education Freedom, is among the many demanding that public hearings take place.

“The U.S. Constitution grants states the authority to educate the public,” Schroeder recently wrote in an editorial. “Most states have granted that authority to the citizens through local control of schools. Some states have a state Department of Education which has been granted authority to set academic standards that are approved by the public.

“When state legislators and/or state departments of education surrender this authority to the federal government without the consent of the people, this action is unconstitutional and illegal.”

Schroeder has been trying to remind school boards around the state that they have the legal right to back out of Common Core at any time, with no loss of state or federal funding. That fact was independently confirmed by an official at the state DPI office.