- Gov.
Bobby Jindal « Press Release - Gov. Jindal
Announces Plan to Get Common Core Out of Louisiana, Develop High
Louisiana Standards
State of Louisiana
Office of the Governor
GOVERNOR BOBBY JINDAL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mar 18, 2015
Office of the Governor
GOVERNOR BOBBY JINDAL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mar 18, 2015
Governor Jindal Announces Plan to Get Common Core Out of Louisiana, Develop High Louisiana Standards
BATON
ROUGE –Today, Governor Jindal released a plan to remove
Common
Core from Louisiana and replace it with high-quality Louisiana
standards while ensuring that Board of Elementary and Secondary
Education (BESE) contracts, Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs), and
Cooperative Endeavor Agreements (CEAs) do not hand control of Louisiana
schools to third-party entities or the federal government.
The
plan will also replace the PARCC test, prohibit the collection of
biometric information from students, and ensure that BESE, like all
state agencies, is subject to the Administrative Procedures Act (APA).
Governor
Jindal emphasized that this package of legislation will help to address
the growing concern and frustration surrounding Common Core and the
PARCC assessment, as more and more parents opt out of these tests and
seek clarity for their children’s academic future.
Governor
Jindal said, “This legislation will help us get Common Core out of
Louisiana once and for all. We will not accept this one-sized-fits-all
approach to our children’s education. The package of legislation will
make clear that the federal government or third parties do not have
control over Louisiana’s schools, and help ensure that Louisiana
parents and teachers create Louisiana standards and curriculum.”
First,
this plan will immediately remove Common Core from Louisiana, and
establish a clear and transparent standards adoption process that
includes parents, educators, and school leaders.
No
standards adoption or review process exists in current law, which
allows BESE to circumvent the public process, as the Board did when
they adopted Common Core as “guidelines,” in 2010 and failed to
promulgate the standards through the APA rulemaking process. There is
no guarantee that the current BESE standards revision process will
include the public or be controlled within Louisiana using Louisiana
teachers.
Prior
to 2010, BESE worked with groups of Louisiana teachers to review
standards by grade level and subject area. This legislation will return
to the pre-Common Core standards adoption process—all the while making
the process more transparent and easier to understand. While
these new Louisiana standards are being developed, Louisiana schools
will use the 2004-2005 Grade Level Expectations and the LEAP and iLEAP
will be administered with a replenished questions bank. This will bring
clarity for teachers who are on the front lines and educating our
children in the classroom.
Under
the new adoption process, every elected official involved in education
(including the Legislature, school board members and BESE members) will
vote on the draft standards and give parents the opportunity to weigh
in and express their concerns. Ultimately, the standards will be
approved by majority vote of both houses of the Legislature through an
up or down vote with recommendations sent to BESE for amendments.
These
new standards will also set minimum requirements for English Language
Arts by giving equal consideration to elements that have been minimized
in the Common Core standards, like classic literature and complete
works of literature. The new standards will also set minimum
requirements for the use of math algorithms that consistently result in
a correct answer and follow traditional formulations to combat Common
Core’s use of what Governor Jindal called “fuzzy math,” ensuring
students are learning both how to achieve the right answer and the
right answer.
Second,
this plan will prohibit BESE from entering into contracts, MOUs, CEAs,
or agreements that violate Louisiana’s control of education.
This
plan prohibits state funds from being spent on state contracts, MOUs,
CEAs or agreements between BESE, the State Superintendent of Education,
or any employee of the Department of Education and any third-party
nongovernmental entity that has competing authority over education in
Louisiana, unless expressly provided for in law.
Additionally,
no state or public funds may be spent on any contract, MOU, CEA, or
waiver agreement entered into by a public education body in Louisiana
that constitutes a shift in policy in response to the federal
regulation or financial incentives from the federal government, unless
expressly provided for in law. All MOUs or agreements in place on the
effective date of the act shall be amended to comply with the act
within 60 days or be considered null and void.
This
legislation will prohibit any state employee, state education board
member, legislator, or executive branch staff member from receiving any
thing of economic value from a contract with BESE or the Department of
Education. BESE members and the State Superintendent will also be
prohibited from participating in any organization that requires
adherence to or adoption of standards, conditions, or policies as a
condition of membership or participation. It will also establish a
2-year “cooling off” period for these same employees.
The
Jindal administration will also be working closely with other authors
on additional legislation that will target Common Core while ensuring
that the state provides high-quality Louisiana standards. This plan to
repeal and replace Common Core with Louisiana standards will build on
Governor Jindal’s ongoing efforts to fight Common Core:
•
Filed lawsuit in federal court against the U.S. Department of Education;
•
Joined legislators in their lawsuit to require the LDE and BESE to
follow the law and comply with the Louisiana Administrative Procedures
Act procedures;
•
Issued an Executive Order protecting freedom of speech and the rights
of teachers after school administrators quieted them for speaking out
against Common Core;
•
Issued an Executive order allowing parents to exercise their choice to
opt their children out of the PARCC exam and urging BESE to protect
school districts from consequences by authorizing alternate assessments.
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