LA Common Core Liberals suing Jindal

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Louisiana State School Board Votes To Sue Jindal
http://dailycaller.com/2014/07/29/lo...to-sue-jindal/

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s effort to tear down Common Core in his state has broken out into all-out war with his state’s school board.

In a special meeting Tuesday afternoon, Louisiana’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) voted to sue Jindal in an effort to stop him from blocking the state’s use of a Common Core-derived standardized states.

Once a supporter of Common Core, Jindal has turned sharply against the new educational standards in the past year. He first urged BESE and the state legislature to eliminate Common Core, but when they declined to do so during the spring, Jindal decided to act unilaterally.

In June, Jindal issued a set of executive orders seeking to force BESE to adopt new educational standards and prevent the administration of standardized test questions developed by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), a testing consortium formed to create Common Core-aligned tests.

Jindal attempted to block the tests by claiming the contracts with vendors to supply them were, in fact, illegal, and that BESE must go through a new contracting process that the governor would be able to influence. Since the very day these executive orders were issued, BESE, along with state Superintendent John White, have been openly defiant.

While BESE was originally planning to launch a brand new lawsuit, on Tuesday the board instead decided to attach itself to a lawsuit filed last week against Jindal by a charter school organization and a group of concerned parents. The lawsuit argues that the state Constitution gives exclusive authority to BESE and the Louisiana legislature to choose and implement educational standards, and that Jindal’s executive orders are therefore gross constitutional overreach....

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/07/29/lo...#ixzz38ykBN0sx

[Elspeth]

Ohio Lawmakers Launch New Common Core Repeal Effort

http://dailycaller.com/2014/07/29/oh...#ixzz38yl0CsL1

Lawmakers in the state of Ohio are mounting a late effort to have their state join the growing exodus from Common Core multistate education standards.

A new bill would mandate the immediate abandonment of Common Core and the implementation of brand new standards.

Ohio, like many states, chose to start the switch to Common Core about four years ago, encouraged in part by the potential awarding of funds from President Obama’s federal Race to the Top program. Now, with the standards set to take full effect this fall, activists on the right are in revolt against what they are calling a federal takeover of education.

The bill is a late effort, and even now the law is filled with placeholder text as lawmakers try to craft the finer details. Backers say new standards will draw inspiration from the most successful ones in place by states prior to Common Core’s advent. Rep. Andrew Thompson, one of the leading anti-Common Core voices in the state, says Massachusetts is a particular source of inspiration.

Despite the law’s currently amorphous nature, hearings are expected to begin in August, with backers hoping to pass the law in November during a lame-duck session following the midterm elections.

Backers are using every tactic they can to get the bill approved in the short time frame they have to work with. The bill will be introduced through the House Rules Committee, headed by a supporter of the bill, instead of in the House Education Committee, which is chaired by a Common Core supporter.

Supporters of a repeal are hoping that sitting House members will be influenced by the defeat of Rep. Peter Stautberg during May’s Republican primary. Stautberg’s opponent, Tom Brinkman, had made opposition to Common Core a central issue of his campaign and used it to rally tea party support.

While several Republican leaders in the state house support the push, other Republicans believe success is unlikely...

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/07/29/oh...#ixzz38ylHmJmQ