Louisiana’s Governor Bobby Jindal held a press conference today to announce that the state is dropping its participation in PARCC and Common Core. He directed the state board to develop its own standards and assessments.
Louisiana’s Governor Bobby Jindal held a press conference today to announce that the state is dropping its participation in PARCC and Common Core. He directed the state board to develop its own standards and assessments.

Wonders of wonders and miracles of miracles…
There must be some money in this, the cynic in me says.
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This is Jindal we’re talking about – of course there’s money in it. See Akla’s comment below. This change is lipstick on the pig – very expensive lipstick.
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How can other Governors be helped to make the same decision?
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ala the pence plan in Indiana. Ended up with the same common core w/minor changes, I wonder if common core ever looked at them to determine copyright infringement? And now they have to develop a test and pence wants to use it without testing or validation or prof development nor time to teach the students using our new uncommonly high not common core but hardly different than common core standards and he will use it to rate teachers. They are also considering letting some voucher schools and charters to not have to use the tests nor report scores for rating purposes, cause, you know, they know good schools and teachers when they see them. What a scam, but the local paper prints everything the ed reformers write, no matter how shamelessly they plug their agendas or falsify the facts.
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Call me a foolish optimist, but I think this will be different. And with any luck I will be on the BESE board in 2015.
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Go, Crazycrawfish!
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And right after, the La. BESE prez and Supt. of Ed. John White issued a press release saying they are moving forward with CCSS and PARCC. So, this is not as cut and dry as it seems. More political maneuvering.Will get Jindal some face time on national tv and in the press – he will appear to be standing up to the big, bad federal gov’t and may even get a bump in his approval rating. But according to the leading education officials of the state, the show will go on for school year 14-15.
http://www.louisianabelieves.com/newsroom/news-releases/2014/06/18/state-to-continue-implementing-common-core-parcc
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Another state dropping out is great news. And I don’t want to be a downer – but state after state can drop out of this all they want, but listen closely to what each one says, they are going to make their own standards and their own tests. Per the Federal DOE each state has to have Standards that are pretty much similar (in common with each other), and every state has to have an accountability test. This is what each state MUST have to be waived out of NCLB. Until those mandates go away not much is going to change.
Overall, getting out of CC is definitely a great step and I hope to see more of this. I don’t want to downplay what is definitely a victory (especially for this State).
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Reblogged this on We Are More and commented:
A governor who recognizes a mess when he sees one, or two!
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Don’t give Bobby too much credit. This is political expediency for him. Now that the right has branded Common Core a federal take-over, Bobby had little choice to play to that crowd. Now, I’m all for my state slowing it down and getting away from this madness of common core as they can, do not for once think Jindal is doing this because he has seen the light. He is simply once again playing to the group he thinks will help him politically and financially.
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The BESE board might WANT to go ahead with CC, but Jindal has the power to veto the money they want to spend on it. That’s my man!
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Jindal is a strict conservative. He does not want federal intrusion into what should be the state’s responsibility. Sorry, but there is NO research to back up the standards. I’m proud of him for taking that step, even if it helps him politically.
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And, get ready when the national curriculum comes down for Social Studies. See what New York did. Look into it. Talk about no more constitution… we are doomed it that happens. All brainwashing on our poor children and grandchildren.
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As I watched the press conference and heard Jindal use the words “slow down” and “be careful”, I couldn’t help but note the irony that it was educators in the state 2 1/2 years ago asking him to do just that. I may like this move, but I do not trust Bobby any more than I trust John “Muddy the Waters” White.
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This victory (and, I know the war is far from over, but just let me bask, for a few blessed moments, in some happiness)is in large part due to an extraordinary effort by parents who rose to defend their kids and were a constant presence at our state Capitol during our recently completed legislative session. As a teacher willing to speak out, I was able to join with some of them and watch their tenacity up close. They have HUGE hearts and they would not go quietly, even in the face of open ridicule by astroturf pro Common Core groups and by some wrong-headed legislators who threw up one roadblock after another in committee hearings. I am blessed simply to know some of them. This war will continue, so stay tuned.
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This is all smoke and mirrors on the part of Jindal and White. I don’t believe this so called disagreement is real for a single second. They have both worn out their welcomes in LA and are posturing for their next gigs as corrupt shills. Jindal, in spite of being one of the enduring poster boys for the party of stupid still has presidential fantasies while White is looking forward to scamming his next partner in the Lemon Dance of failed education leadership. This alleged fight isn’t even close to being worth the effort of breaking out the popcorn and a comfy chair.
Jindal decides to sit on the edge of the fence with the Teaparty by opposing the common core, and after Cantor’s loss probably thinks himself smart even though the only salient issue in Cantors failed re-election bid was voter turnout and the way it went in Brat’s favor due to right wing talk radio support. Jindal also is likely looking to position himself in the vanguard of the CCSS rebranding effort and by doing so appeal to the reformers and their cash and political support machines. He may gum the reformers hand for appearance’s sake but will never bite it. White is just along for the ride of he who appointed him and gets to look tough and implacable against the broad based CCSS push back, a resume line for his future aspirations.
This is the same side of the coin fighting with itself, one part of the testing industrial complex against another, the illusion of state vs.federal control when most states will sign contracts with all the same players and have much the same if not identical materials. I’m sure Pearson will find a way to charge the federal camp for comparing these “different” tests to each other so that we can know whatever it is they claim we can find out.
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I assume they must have had some sort of standards before CCSS.
However, if not, NYS has some excellent standards they are not currently using. I’m sure Louisiana could borrow them if the need some.
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So does New Jersey.
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Louisiana never called what they followed “standards.” As a retired teacher, we followed the curriculum guide to let us know what had to be taught. I think we need to look to states like Massachusetts. Find the states that put out the most national merit scholars in the country, and model after them. Of course, they will be the more elite and upper class, but LA needs to have the higher standards to follow. It will be very hard because we have so much poverty to deal with.
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Anne, any state standards will be better than Common Core.
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Nowadays students are not supposed to be given texts on their reading level. They are supposed to have access to grade level texts. How many vocabulary words should I introduce to my ELLs?
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A superb question, NJ.
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