Lousiana Sues Feds Over Common Core!

[Chris_Wendt]

A federal lawsuit filed by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal seeks to declare the Department of Education's actions unconstitutional and to keep it from disqualifying states from receiving Race to the Top funds based on a refusal to use Common Core or to participate in one of the testing consortia.

U.S. Department of Education has used a $4.3 billion grant program and federal policy waivers to encourage states to adopt uniform education standards and testing. The Republican governor says that "effectively forces states down a path toward a national curriculum" in violation of the state sovereignty clause in the Constitution and federal laws that prohibit national control of education content.

"Louisiana now finds itself trapped in a federal scheme to nationalize curriculum," the lawsuit says. "What started as good state intentions has materialized into the federalization of education policy through federal economic incentives and duress."

Careful readers will get a sense of the political overtones of this suit. Nonetheless, it is a federal lawsuit and it will make its merry way through adjudication and perhaps a judicial decision that supports Jindal' position, which I share completely.

What do you think about this news?

Source: Link to AP Story on Yahoo

Regards,

Chris Wendt[/blockquote]

[rr]

Obviously there's no political publicity stunt going on here...oh, no - this is legit.

ridiculous - that's what I think about this news.

[Chris_Wendt]

Okay, federal lawsuit against the U.S. government,filed by a state governor with political ambitions...of course there is publicity value in this.
But that does not mean there is no real value or merit to Governor Jindal's position.
Of course, he is NOT asking the court to invalidate the Common Core. He is asking that Louisiana not be penalized (by loss of RTT funds) for not staying the course with Common Core, and specifically, with the PARCC assessment consortium.

Stay tuned. (Not really...this will probably take 2-3 years to work its way through the courts. The Common Core may not even last that long.)

Chris Wendt

[rr]

One other major thing missing from this little conversation is the hilarity that a creationist like Bobby Jindal, who supports teaching creationism in public schools, is actually a relevant figure in ANY discussion about education. It's not like he's an educational historian or anything.

It's Curriculum Night in Wantagh El tonight - looking forward to hearing about the school year!

[Chris_Wendt]

So I guess you would be blown away to realize that the Common Core Initiative (The CC Standards, the CC Curriculum, the CC Assessments, and the CC of Data) is the brainchild of the National Governors Association (NGA)? Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry, Chris Christie, I mean, just name your favorite state governor and he or she has a lot to do with education, and most of that vis-à-vis the Common Core.

Lookie here: NGA: Common Core States Standards Initiative

Chris Wendt

[rr]

The NGA may have taken credit for spearheading the CCI but they were reacting to the actions / finding of the task force the chair of the NGA created. The governors, as most politicians do, sat on the shoulders of the people doing the work and creating the new standards. If Bobby Jindal had his way our kids would be learning that the earth is a few thousand years old and Jesus rode a dinosaur.

I think I've posted this article before but...

www.usnews.com/news/special-reports/articles/2014/02/27/the-history-of-common-core-state-standards

Anyway, for what its worth, I remain a fan of the new standards and the need for testing...not much has changed for me and our kids are still learning from the CC standards. My hope and expectation is that each year the teachers will become more comfortable and confident in the new standards and this all dies down. Of course some people will continue to beat the drums for their own personal gain or need to be part of the group but I think the beat will begin to soften.

[Chris_Wendt]

rr stated:

"My hope and expectation is that each year the teachers will become more comfortable and confident in the new standards and this all dies down. Of course some people will continue to beat the drums for their own personal gain or need to be part of the group but I think the beat will begin to soften."

I suspect there will be a regime change in the White House and Senate between now and 2017, and if I am correct, would expect the Common Core to disappear shortly thereafter. if it survives until then. I certainly have left room in my position to be proven completely wrong about this.

There you have both sides of the same coin.

Chris Wendt