BESE President Roemer Might Have to Sue for the Right to Sue Jindal
So, I thought that there might be more lawsuits to add to the two that were filed on July 21 and 22, one against the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) by 17 lawmakers regarding the slighting of proper procedure for Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in July 2010, and one against the governor and Division of Administration (DOA) in an effort to keep Louisiana in CCSS and (especially) its associated consortium-created tests via the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC).
Now, I though that the next lawsuit would be either 1) BESE/Louisiana Department of Education’s (LDOE) suing Jindal, or 2) BESE/LDOE’s suing for the right to sue Jindal.
It appears that it might be the latter.
On July 24, 2014, the Jindal administration denied BESE approval to secure legal representation that could involve BESE’s suing Governor Jindal.
In short, the Jindal administration will not approve counsel for one part of the state to sue another part of he state. As the Times-Picayune reports:
The Jindal administration has said it cannot let the state school board hire an outside lawyer specifically to try and win a legal case against another part of the state government. “The code of ethics prohibits [the state school board] from taking an adverse action against the state,” said Kristy Nichols, the governor’s chief administrator.
So, for what can BESE sue? AP News offers the following clarification:
The education board voted this month to hire a law firm that has agreed to represent it for free. But in a complication, state law has a provision requiring boards that hire outside lawyers to get approval from the attorney general and the governor.The attorney general’s office approved the contract. It was submitted toBESE President Roemer Might Have to Sue for the Right to Sue Jindal | deutsch29: