Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed the agreement to adopt Common Core.
But when Common Core turned toxic among conservative voters, Jindal declared he would pull his state out of Common Core and the federal test.
State Commissioner of Education John White–who supports vouchers, charters, and Common Core– refused to go along. He and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education said they were sticking with Common Core. Jindal appointed most of the BESE members and urged them to appoint White.
BESE and White threatened to sue Jindal. But they need the Governor’s permission to sue the Governor.
Governor Jindal announced today that he would not permit BESE to hire outside lawyers to sue him.
Jindal previously announced that he would not permit PARCC to be used as the state test because there was no proper procurement procedure used to contract for the test.
Teachers and schools are caught in the middle. They don’t know what test will be the state test this coming school year.
Guess they will just have to teach whatever they think they should teach. They won’t know what test to teach to.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It would be nice not to have to teach to a test. When was the last time a teacher didn’t?
I’ve never taught to a test in 20 years. But then again I don’t teach in high-stakes testing courses-thank god!
Little did
Join dal realize the he had struck a blow against the deformers, though it is hardly the case that ” my enemies’ enemy is my friend”. We shall have to wait and see what Jindal’s next piece of abject ignorance driven by political expediencevwill entail. In the meantime, teachers can actually do their job. Welcome to”Alice In Wonderland”.
Guess they will just have to teach what they know that kids need to learn. Because they are professionals, and they know their students. Because they are experts, and know more than all of the standardized test developers about what kids need to know in order to succeed in this world. In Louisiana, we are facing the possibility of a school year without a TEST – and I love it!
Can you imagine how this BS sounds to people from other nations! No wonder we have so little …. KEN
I feel sorry for the teachers and kids of Louisiana. But I have no sympathy for Jindal and White. I guess the old adage is right. When you play with fire, you are likely to get burned.
Keep “beating” up ignorant bullies (Diane) you have my support–although vouchers appear to be a legitimate concept (as you are well aware (that) many public schools are not fit to house the “rats” dwelling there! FORTUNATELY–Most are fit for such inhabitants. KEN
I always felt Common Core was a political quid pro quo btwn Duncan and the GOP governors: they’d support CC and the Obama Administration would promote charters and privatization in their states.
Then the GOP governors bailed on their end of the deal, leaving the Obama Administration supporting all of the GOP ed reform agenda, but not getting Common Core.
I do feel sorry for regular people in tgat state, though, students and teachers in the (remaining) public schools.
They’re caught in the middle of an intra-reform political battle.
I don’t think chaos is good for children, generally, and that state’s public schools have certainly endured a lot over Jindal’s tenure. It must be horrible.
The citizens and politicians may not be able to comprehend the concept of a Louisiana politician whose number one priority is not stuffing his pockets with cash.
Bobby Jindal has a background with one of the global consultancies ( McKinsey? ) and has far more vision and integrity than all of the politicians combined that have been in office in Louisiana since the continents split apart.
“Bobby Jindal has . . . far more vision and integrity than all. . .
Man that must have been a good wake and bake this morning.
You would think that Louisiana could easily adapt to the previous standards quite easily and fall back on those test. All the hoopla that is being made from the Ed Dept would make you think that Louisiana had no previous standards upon which evaluations could be made. Seasoned grade level teachers should already know what students need to learn in by grade level and teach. Teaching to a test is not teaching.
Louisiana Teachers–What Jill said at 9:40 PM, 7/24–since there’s NO directive (by default, de-fault being dat of da leaders!)–well, “Guess they (y’all) will just have to teach what kids need to learn!” How great is that?
Wish that were the case for the rest of the states!
Have a WONDERFUL year, Louisiana Teachers!
This should be published
http://ny.chalkbeat.org/2014/07/24/to-build-a-principal-pipeline-city-tries-an-all-of-the-above-approach/#.U9JD13DD_IV
The Greatest Show on Earth!….bring in the clowns!
Yep, Send in the Clowns!
No need to revert to the Sondheim song, the clowns are already in attendeance.
mscpamom is right. Louisiana has a perfectly good set of standards that have guided teachers for a decade. CCSS and PARCC, who needs it? Let teachers teach.
Meanwhile we Louisianans get to watch team Bobby Jindal and team John White (state Superintendent) lawyer up and go at each other over procurement law to purchase a test. If we are lucky it will tie them up and they will purchase none!
As my good friend said to me, “We will teach STUDENTS.” How refreshing!
Love, love love these ending sentences of Diane’s post: “Guess they will just have to teach whatever they think they should teach. They won’t know what test to teach to.” Veteran, experienced teachers won’t have any problems with this. We actually started our careers without any standards, just our own district, teacher written courses of study. Our professional development was on how students learn and on best practices. As a 30 year veteran, I know how children learn to read and write and develop number sense, because my district helped me grow in this knowledge. So, I know what to teach. Newer teachers only know the standards and how to teach to the test. Their professional develop consists on unpacking standards and understanding what kind of items will be on the high stakes tests. When those standards change -and they will- and the testing craze is gone – and I pray for this – they will have to press the restart button and start all over again. I am not being disrespectful to novice teachers. They are dedicated and hardworking. It’s just that this new ‘system’ is letting them down.