Bobby Jindal Sues Federal Government Over Common Core
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Buffeted by a state judge who initially struck down his suspension of Common Core testing and said his actions hurt the state's parents, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) is now turning to the federal courts in the crusade against the Common Core, a cause he once backed wholeheartedly.
“The federal government has hijacked and destroyed the Common Core initiative. Common Core is the latest effort by big government disciples to strip away state rights and put Washington, D.C. in control of everything," Jindal, widely considered a 2016 presidential contender, said in a statement. "What started out as an innovative idea to create a set of base-line standards that could be ‘voluntarily’ used by the states has turned into a scheme by the federal government to nationalize curriculum."
Jindal's suit, filed Wednesday in the United States District Court of Middle Louisiana and first reported by the Associated Press, alleges that efforts by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to incentivize the adoption of the Common Core violate the 10th Amendment. The Obama administration's Race to the Top competition, which had cash-strapped states vie for $4 billion in federal funding, pushed states to implement "college and career-ready" standards. In reality, the program accelerated the adoption the Common Core.
The Common Core standards are a set of learning benchmarks in math and English language arts that tell teachers what students need to know by the end of each grade. Over 40 states have adopted them, but the standards have recently attracted controversy from groups ranging from moms to tea partiers to Louis C.K. Critics have railed against what they see as federal overreach, tough and changing homework questions, and teachers' unions decrying hobbled and rushed implementation. Several states have dropped the Common Core standards, but only to replace them with similar standards by a different name.
Louisiana has benefited from Race to the Top, but now Jindal is arguing in his suit that Obama used the grants to compel states to adopt "a uniform set of standards and assessments."
Despite Jindal's contentions, the Common Core is not a curriculum. Federal law explicitly bars the federal government from meddling with how teachers conduct lessons.
"The proponents of Common Core will tell you that it’s simply about one test and Bobby Jindal Sues Federal Government Over Common Core: