INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s Attorney General has dealt a major blow to a proposal by state schools Superintendent Glenda Ritz to spare schools from being penalized for low scores on this year’s ISTEP exams.

A legal opinion issued by the office of Republican Attorney General Greg Zoeller says the Department of Education doesn’t have the authority to disregard the test results.

The opinion was requested by members of the Board of Education, which is dominated by appointees of Republican Gov. Mike Pence, who supports the grades.

Ritz, a Democrat, has said she anticipated a score decline due to changes made to the ISTEP exams taken last spring after the state scrapped Common Core standards.

Ritz has been skeptical of the school grading system and wants schools to have more transition time.