Governor Jindal Asks PARCC to Withdraw from Louisiana
BATON ROUGE
– Today, Governor Bobby Jindal sent a letter to the Partnership of
Assessments for College and Career Readiness (PARCC) asking the
organization to immediately withdraw from the State of Louisiana.
Governor Jindal issued an executive order that instructs the Louisiana
Department of Education to begin a competitive process to purchase a
new assessment and called on the Department of Education and the Board
of Secondary and Elementary Education to develop Louisiana standards
for the Legislature to approve next legislative session.
The
Governor said the state is no longer committed to implementing the
PARCC assessment in the 2014-15 school year, rendering it unable to
comply with the terms of the June 2010 Memorandum of Understanding
between the State and PARCC. In addition, several changes have occurred
since the MOU was signed that make Louisiana’s membership in conflict
with Louisiana law. He also cited teacher dissatisfaction and concerns
over one-size fits all federal standards, and highlighted that the
federal government has rushed its implementation.
Governor
Jindal said, “It's time for PARCC to withdraw from Louisiana. We won’t
let the federal government take over Louisiana’s education standards.
We’re very alarmed about choice and local control over curriculum being
taken away from parents and educators. Common Core has not been
fully
implemented yet in Louisiana, and we need to start the process over. It
was rushed in the beginning and done without public input.
“Additionally,
proponents weren’t up front about federal involvement in PARCC and
Common Core. Now that we understand the federal overreach involved, we
need to slow down and make the right decision. Some Common Core
proponents suggest that we cannot have high standards without Common
Core. That is a false statement. We need a Louisiana test that
ensures
children are performing at high levels so they can compete not only
around the country, but around the world. We can certainly have high
standards without giving up control of Louisiana’s education system to
the federal government.
“If other states want to
allow the federal government to dictate to them, they have every right
to make that choice. But education is a primary responsibility of
states, and we will not cede this responsibility to the federal
government.”
The Governor said the MOU does not
allow for a competitive bid process for the test, which is required
under Louisiana law. Additionally, other vendors have entered the
market that offer comparable assessments at lower costs and allow
greater input from, and accountability to, the states that hire them.
Louisiana law requires the state to choose the lowest cost responsive
bidder.
As a result of these conflicts, the
Governor took the following actions to ensure that Louisiana maintains
control of its assessments and complies with its own laws:
1.
Issued an executive order that instructs the Louisiana Department of
Education to conduct a competitive process to purchase a new assessment
and which prohibits the expenditure of funds on cooperative group
purchasing organizations and interstate agreements;
2.
Suspended the rules adopted by the Louisiana Board of Elementary and
Secondary Education from May 2014 to ensure that the Louisiana
Department of Education is able to comply with Louisiana competitive
bid law;
3. Instructed the Division of
Administration to conduct a comprehensive accounting of all Louisiana
expenditures and resources on PARCC, what services or products have
been received in return for such expenditures, and copies of all
contracts in place or in negotiation for the purchase of an assessment;
4.
Issued a Request for Information to PARCC requesting information about
the procurement processes utilized by the consortium, by the Fiscal
Agent state, and by the Lead Procurement State to ensure that these
processes complied with Louisiana law;
5.
Notified the Council for Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the
National Governor’s Association (NGA) of Louisiana’s termination of
participation in the Common Core State Standards Initiative.
The Governor sent the following letter to PARCC
outlining these actions:
June 18, 2014
Dear Commissioner Chester,
This
letter is to request that the Partnership of Assessments for College
and Career Readiness (PARCC) immediately withdraw from the State of
Louisiana. The State of Louisiana is no longer committed to
implementing the PARCC assessment in the 2014-15 school year, rendering
it unable to comply with the terms of the June 2010 Memorandum of
Understanding between the State and PARCC. In addition, several changes
have occurred since the MOU was signed that make Louisiana’s membership
in conflict with Louisiana law.
First, PARCC's
Cooperative Agreement with the United States Department of Education
(USDOE) includes terms that would remove Louisiana's control over its
assessments, and thereby its curriculum and pedagogy. While PARCC has
assured states that curriculum is a local matter, the reality is what
is assessed is what is taught and PARCC has a funding agreement with
USDOE for $186 million. Laws enacted during the 2014 Regular Session of
the Louisiana Legislature specifically authorize local education
agencies to develop curriculum, content and methodology in lieu of any
curriculum developed by the state board and prohibit the sharing of
identifiable student information.
Second, there
are several other vendors who have entered the market and who are now
offering comparable assessment products at potentially lower cost and
with greater input from, and accountability to, the individual states
who hired them. Louisiana law requires the state to choose the lowest
cost responsive bidder and to maintain control of the contract through
which state taxpayer dollars will be expended. Neither of these
criteria is met under the contracting arrangement of PARCC through a
Fiscal Agent and/or Lead Procurement State.
Third,
several of the RFPs issued on behalf of PARCC were done so by other
states, without the opportunity for Louisiana to ensure that these
processes were handled in a method that complies with Louisiana’s
competitive bid law. Louisiana’s MOU with PARCC and PARCC’s Cooperation
Agreement with USDOE require PARCC to utilize competitive bid processes
that comply with the laws of each member state and federal law.
Fourth,
strict compliance with the MOU will prevent Louisiana from observing
its competitive bid law for the procurement of the assessment itself.
Louisiana law prohibits public procurement units from entering into
cooperative purchasing agreements “for the purpose of circumventing”
the Procurement Code (La. R.S. 39:1708). The MOU states specifically
that each Governing State must agree to use the PARCC tests and to
adopt them into its accountability and teacher evaluation systems,
which is against Louisiana law if done without a competitive process.
Louisiana cannot be a member of a cooperative purchasing agreement that
requires, as a condition of membership, it buy the agreement’s product,
especially before the product was even developed, and at an unknown
cost at the time of execution.
Therefore, I have
taken the following actions to ensure that Louisiana maintains control
of its assessments and complies with its own laws:
1.
I have issued an executive order that instructs the Louisiana
Department of Education to conduct a competitive process to purchase a
new assessment and which prohibits the expenditure of funds on
cooperative group purchasing organizations and interstate agreements.
2.
I have suspended the rules adopted by the Louisiana Board of Elementary
and Secondary Education from May 2014 to ensure that the Louisiana
Department of Education is able to comply with Louisiana competitive
bid law;
3. I have instructed the Louisiana
Division of Administration to conduct a comprehensive accounting of all
Louisiana expenditures and resources on PARCC, what services or
products have been received in return for such expenditures, and copies
of all contracts in place or in negotiation for the purchase of an
assessment.
4. I have issued a Request for
Information to PARCC requesting information about the procurement
processes utilized by the consortium, by the Fiscal Agent state, and by
the Lead Procurement State to ensure that these processes complied with
Louisiana law.
5. I have notified the Council for
Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Governor’s
Association (NGA) of Louisiana’s termination of participation in the
Common Core State Standards Initiative.
I will pursue cancellation of this MOU through all means necessary.
Sincerely,
Bobby Jindal
Governor
The Governor also issued the following Executive
Orders:
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. BJ 2014 - 7
STATE PROCUREMENT OF ACADEMIC ASSESSMENTS
WHEREAS,
Article VII, Section 14 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974 expresses
the prohibition that “the funds, credit, property, or things of value
of the state or of any political subdivision shall not be loaned,
pledged, or donated to or for any person, association, or corporation,
public or private.”;
WHEREAS, elements of this
constitutional prohibition reveal themselves in statutory mandates that
public bodies conduct competitive procurement processes designed to
promote public confidence in the cost and quality of goods, ensure
transparency by requiring public notice, and safeguard the important
public policy that public funds – always derived from taxpayers – be
spent wisely;
WHEREAS, the Department of
Education and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education are each
subject to the Louisiana Procurement Code (La. R.S. 39:1551, et seq.),
the laws on Professional, Personal, Consulting, and Social Services
Contracts (La. R.S. 39:1481, et seq.), and other laws applicable to
procurement by public bodies;
WHEREAS, the
Department of Education and the Board of Elementary and Secondary
Education joined the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for
College and Careers (“PARCC”) and committed to purchase PARCC’s
assessment product before the product was even developed and to utilize
its Common Core aligned assessment product and adopt them into its
accountability and teacher evaluation systems, without giving due
consideration to the development of other comparable assessment
products and thereby failing to undertake a transparent, competitive
process;
WHEREAS, pursuant to La. R.S. 39:1708,
the Department of Education and the Board of Elementary and Secondary
Education are prohibited from entering into a cooperative purchasing
agreement for the purpose of circumventing the laws governing
procurement;
WHEREAS, participation in PARCC does
not exempt the Department of Education or the Board of Elementary and
Secondary Education from following other Louisiana laws, promulgated
rules, or Executive Orders applicable to the procurement of goods and
services by purchase, contract, or by cooperative endeavor;
WHEREAS,
the chief procurement officer of the state has authority, pursuant to
La. R.S. 39:1597, to determine that only one source is available to
provide a required item. However, the determination that PARCC is the
sole source of assessment products appears to be precluded in this
case, as there are a number of potential competitors with assessment
products available for review and comparison, making the use of a
transparent, competitive process possible;
WHEREAS,
Louisiana Revised Statute 39:1497 requires that the director of the
office of contractual review determine that all professional, personal,
consulting, or social services have complied with the procedures set
forth in La. R.S. 39:1481, et seq.;
WHEREAS, in
accordance with La. R.S. 39:1596, Executive Order BJ 2010-16
establishes procedures for the procurement of small purchases not
exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) as exempt from the
competitive sealed bidding requirements of the Louisiana Procurement
Code, with purchases exceeding that amount requiring competitive sealed
bidding and adequate prior notice;
WHEREAS, the
Legislature, during the 2014 Regular Session, has appropriated
approximately $20,000,000 for the Department of Education to purchase
these assessments for the 2014-2015 fiscal year commencing on July 1,
2014, and the expenditure of such a large amount of taxpayer-funded
public funds clearly carries with it the responsibility that a
transparent and competitive process be utilized.
NOW
THEREFORE, I, BOBBY JINDAL, Governor of the State of Louisiana, by
virtue of the authority vested by the Constitution and laws of the
State of Louisiana, do hereby order and direct as follows:
SECTION
1: The Department of Education and Board of Elementary and
Secondary
Education are directed to undertake a transparent, competitive
procurement process in accordance with Louisiana law to obtain academic
assessments for Louisiana’s schoolchildren.
SECTION
2: The Division of Administration is directed to conduct a
comprehensive accounting of all Louisiana expenditures and resources
related to PARCC, what services and products have been received in
return for such expenditures, and copies of all contracts or other
agreements in place or in negotiation for the purchase of an
assessment. The Division of Administration is further directed to
ensure the Department of Education and Board of Elementary and
Secondary Education’s compliance with Louisiana law in the procurement
of academic assessments for the 2014-2015 school year and subsequent
years.
SECTION 3: All departments, commissions,
boards, agencies, and officers of the state of Louisiana, or any
political subdivision thereof, are authorized and directed to cooperate
in implementing the provisions of this Order.
SECTION
4: This Order is effective upon signature and shall continue in
effect
until amended, modified, terminated, or rescinded by the governor, or
terminated by operation of law.
IN WITNESS
WHEREOF, I have set my hand officially and caused to be affixed the
Great Seal of Louisiana, at the Capitol, in the city of Baton Rouge, on
this 18th day of June, 2014.
/s/ Bobby Jindal______________
GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA
ATTEST BY
THE GOVERNOR
/s/ Tom Schedler_________
SECRETARY OF STATE
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. BJ 2014 - 6
BOARD OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION –
SUSPENSION OF STATEWIDE ASSESSMENT STANDARDS AND PRACTICES
RULE REVISIONS
WHEREAS,
pursuant to the provisions of Article IV, Section 5 of the Louisiana
Constitution of 1974, as amended, and La. R.S. 49:970, the Governor may
issue an executive order which suspends any rule or regulation adopted
by a state department, agency, board or commission within thirty days
of adoption; and
WHEREAS, on February 20, 2014,
the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education published a notice of
intent in the Louisiana Register of proposed revisions to Bulletin
118—Statewide Assessment Standards and Practices (LAC 28:CXI.113); and
WHEREAS,
on May 20, 2014, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
published a final notice in the Louisiana Register to adopt revisions
to Bulletin 118—Statewide Assessment Standards and Practices (LAC
28:CXI.113); and
WHEREAS, the revisions to
Bulletin 118—Statewide Assessment Standards and Practices (LAC
28:CXI.113), broadly construed, inappropriately instructs the Louisiana
Department of Education to purchase assessments in a method that may
not be compliant with Louisiana law, while also appropriately allowing
the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to authorize
paper
assessments in the 2014 – 2015 school year.
NOW
THEREFORE, I, BOBBY JINDAL, Governor of the State of Louisiana, by
virtue of the authority vested by the Constitution and laws of the
State of Louisiana, do hereby order and direct as follows:
SECTION
1: The revisions to Bulletin 118—Statewide Assessment Standards
and
Practices (LAC 28:CXI.113), published as a final notice on May 20,
2014, are hereby suspended.
SECTION 2: The
Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is authorized and directed
to implement a process to authorize paper assessments in the 2014-2015
school year.
SECTION 3: The Louisiana
Department of Education, the Board of Elementary and Secondary
Education and any other departments, commissions, boards, offices,
entities, agencies, and officers of the State of Louisiana, or any
political subdivision thereof, are authorized and directed to comply
with the suspension of the revisions to LAC 28:CXI.113 of this Order.
SECTION
4: This Order is effective upon signature and shall remain in
effect
unless amended, modified, terminated, or rescinded.
IN
WITNESS WHEREOF, I have set my hand officially and caused to be affixed
the Great Seal of Louisiana, at the Capitol, in the city of Baton
Rouge, on this 18th day of June, 2014.
/s/ Bobby Jindal______________
GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA
ATTEST BY
THE GOVERNOR
/s/ Tom Schedler__________
SECRETARY OF STATE
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American Principles Project
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 18, 2014
CONTACT: Kate Bryan
American Principles Project
American Principles Project Applauds Governor Bobby
Jindal’s Decision to End the Common Core in Louisiana
Governor Jindal Held
Press Conference Today to Announce His Plans to End Common Core and
PARCC in Louisiana
Washington, D.C. – Governor Bobby Jindal held a
press conference this afternoon to announce numerous executive orders
issued today to bring an end the national Common Core Standards
initiative and Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College
(PARCC) in Louisiana. Emmett McGroarty, Education Director of American
Principles Project, issued the following statement in response to
Jindal’s remarks:
“The American Principles Project applauds Governor
Jindal’s decision to pull Louisiana out of the national Common Core
Standards initiative and the federally funded tests aligned with it.
Today, the Governor stands alongside the moms, dads, and other citizens
of Louisiana who are pushing back against the federal overreach. In so
doing, he has reaffirmed the Framers’ intent that state government will
guard the rightful interests of the state’s citizens. He has given more
hope to the moms, dads and other citizens across America who are
pushing back against a $600 billion education industrial complex and
the elites in both parties who have been advocating for the national
Common Core Standards. Louisiana has begun the process of getting rid
of the defective and inferior standards foisted upon it by the federal
government. Certainly, as the Governor’s statement today recognizes,
much still needs to be done to make things right. But the Governor’s
actions and words mark this as a historic day.”
For further information, please contact Kate
Bryan of American Principles Project at 202-503-2010 or kbryan@americanprinciplesproject.org
The American Principles Project is a 501(c)(3)
organization dedicated to preserving and propagating the fundamental
principles on which our country was founded – universal principles,
embracing the notion that we are all created equal, endowed by our
Creator with certain unalienable rights, and among these are life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Speaker Pro Tem Walt Leger
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 19, 2014
REP. WALT LEGER
RELEASES
STATEMENT
ON
GOV.
JINDAL’S
MISGUIDED
ATTEMPT
TO ABANDON COMMON
CORE
Statement by Walter "Walt" J. Leger, III
State Representative, District 91
Speaker Pro Tempore, Louisiana House of Representatives
"Louisiana students deserve the same opportunities as children
across the United States, and for too long we have let our education
standards lag behind. That is why Governor Jindal's attempts to abandon
Common Core are all the more reprehensible.
The public will remember that, before he opposed it, Gov. Jindal
supported Common Core in 2010 and signed it into law with Act 275 in
2012. Louisiana joined with 43 other states in setting common
expectations in English language arts and mathematics. Unfortunately,
as the governor’s political ambitions increased, he began catering to
extremists who oppose the standards.
The governor is irresponsibly perpetuating a campaign of
misinformation surrounding Common Core, including the myth that the
federal government would be taking over our schools. The facts are that
Common Core is a state-led effort, and the federal government does not
govern it. The Louisiana Department of Education, the State Board of
Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), and local school districts
will continue to drive the implementation of Common Core.
In order to keep moving forward, a group of pragmatic Democrats and
Republicans joined with me to author HB 953. The bill passed with more
than two-thirds of the legislature supporting it, but the governor
vetoed it on Friday.
HB 953 was a compromise that would have allowed Louisiana to continue
implementing the Common Core expectations and tests, while giving
students and teachers two extra years to prepare before accountability
measures went into effect.
As a state that consistently ranks 48th or 49th in education, we
took action to ensure that Louisiana’s students would be better
prepared to compete nationally. There is no doubt that Gov. Jindal’s
plan would set us back, and our children would be the ones to suffer
most. Districts, schools, teachers, and students have been working to
meet the new standards for several years, and the governor is pulling
the rug out from under them just weeks before classes are scheduled to
begin. It is unethical to denigrate their immense efforts at this point
in the implementation process.
Governor Jindal’s plan to abandon Common Core is a clear example of
executive overreach. And while I was disappointed to hear his
announcement, I take solace in the fact that the law is on our side. It
empowers BESE and the Louisiana Department of Education to set
standards and mandates that “[b]eginning with the 2014-2015 school
year, standards-based assessments shall be based on nationally
recognized content standards.”
I commend Superintendent White and the Louisiana Department of
Education and Chas Roemer and BESE for maintaining their commitment to
Common Core and improving public education in our state.”
Louisiana
Board
of
Elementary
and
Secondary
Education
(BESE)
July 29, 2014
BESE approves legal action to protect its
constitutional authority, preserve standardized testing for 2014-15
The
Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) conducted
a special meeting today to address legal issues related to Governor
Bobby Jindal’s Executive Orders impacting state student assessments.
The Board voted to intervene as a plaintiff in a lawsuit recently filed
by parents and teachers; the lawsuit seeks to remove the governor’s
restrictions on standardized testing plans for the upcoming school
year, and to resolve the question raised by the Division of
Administration concerning legal authority as it relates to education
policy.
“BESE has a constitutional and
statutory responsibility to implement Louisiana’s academic standards
and aligned tests,” said Chas Roemer, BESE president. “Because of the
governor’s unilateral action to block the Board from meeting its
obligations under the law, it has become necessary for BESE to engage
in legal action to affirm its constitutional authority. The school year
is about to begin, and the quickest path to resolution is for the Board
to enter the lawsuit filed by parents and teachers. The essence of that
lawsuit is BESE’s constitutional role in setting education policy in
the state, and we should have a seat at the table.”
“BESE’s
involvement in the suit will help to bring a resolution faster on the
question of the Board’s constitutional authority,” said James Garvey,
BESE vice president. “Receiving this clarity quickly will help
Louisiana students and teachers move forward, and prepare for testing
aligned to the state’s adopted standards.”
State
law, including La. R.S. 17:24.4, directs BESE to determine the academic
content standards taught in Louisiana schools as well as the aligned
assessments, requiring they be based on nationally recognized standards
by the 2014-15 school year. Through Executive Order on June 18, the
governor blocked the use of assessment questions developed by a
national consortium and aligned to Common Core, preventing BESE and the
Louisiana Department of Education from carrying out their legal
responsibilities.
At an earlier
special meeting on July 1, the Board passed a resolution authorizing
BESE officers to act on behalf of the Board and retain outside legal
counsel for advice regarding potential next steps. Today’s action
effectively supplements the resolution to authorize counsel to
intervene in Navis Hill, et al. v. Louisiana State Governor, et
al. on
behalf of BESE, for the purpose of protecting the constitutional
authority of the Board with regard to education policy in Louisiana.
# # #
BATON ROUGE
– The Office of Governor Bobby Jindal filed an amended petition in
court today arguing that the state’s agreement with PARCC is in
violation of federal law because it is an attempt to federalize
education curriculum through control over education assessments and
programs of instruction.
The amended petition
also shows that the Board of Secondary and Elementary Education (BESE)
never formally approved the state’s participation in PARCC and the
Governor is seeking a preliminary injunction to stop BESE’s use of the
PARCC materials until the court has the opportunity to rule on the
legal issues.
Governor Jindal said, “Common Core
began as an effort to simply raise standards for students, but it has
morphed into a scheme to drive education curriculum from Washington,
D.C. Congress drew a bright red line that can’t be crossed and it
clearly bars the federal government from ‘directing, supervising, or
controlling elementary and secondary school curriculum, programs of
instruction, and instructional material.’ Implementing PARCC in
Louisiana crosses the line because what’s tested is what’s taught.
PARCC is a federal agent for co-opting our school’s curriculum.
“Indeed,
Common Core and PARCC supporters are now arguing that without a test in
place for the upcoming school year, teachers don’t know what to teach.
If Common Core is just about standards though, then why would the
Superintendent and BESE President be worried about one test? The answer
is because it’s about curriculum. Tests drive curriculum for the school
year.”
In addition to the existing claim that the PARCC
agreement unlawfully delegates BESE’s authority to the PARCC Governing
Board, the amended petition states:
Click
here to a read the full petition.
1.
The PARCC Agreement Violates Federal Law Because Federal Law Prohibits
The Federal Government From Directing Or Controlling Education
Curriculum:
“The Common Core standards
were originally created and promoted to be voluntary, with no strings
tied to federal mandates or federal conditions affecting curriculum,
programs of instruction, or instructional materials.
“The
General Education Provisions Act (‘GEPA’), the Department of Education
Organization Act (‘DOEA’), and the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act (‘ESEA’), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
expressly ban federal departments, officers and employees from
directing, supervising, or controlling elementary and secondary school
curriculum, programs of instruction, and instructional material.
“The
Race to Top Program, however, effectively coopted Common Core for the
federal government, attempting to accomplish indirectly through
economic coercion that which the federal government is prohibited from
accomplishing directly.
“PARCC was created in
direct response to the Race for the Top Assessment Program. Its
purpose is to marshal states toward the centralized control of
education standards and content through its ‘Comprehensive Assessment
Systems,’ which effectively controls assessment, testing, and
instructional products and materials.
“Simply
put, PARCC is the implementation platform for a carefully orchestrated
federal scheme to supervise, direct and control educational curriculum,
programs of instruction and instructional materials in direct violation
of federal law. And the scheme is being perpetrated on the
pretext of
higher standards promised by Common Core.
“By
committing the State to PARCC's governance, obligations and products,
BESE is effectively enabling a violation of federal law.”
2. A Preliminary Injunction Should Be Granted To Stop BESE’s
Use Of PARCC Materials:
“Governor
Jindal [is entitled to] injunctive relief, as the citizens of the State
of Louisiana will suffer irreparable injury, loss and damage if the
assessment system developed by PARCC is implemented in the 2014-15
school year because the assessments developed by PARCC represent an
unlawful exercise of federal control of education in Louisiana.
“Because
of the imminent risk of irreparable harm created by the unlawful
exercise of federal control of education in Louisiana, Governor Jindal
seeks a Preliminary Injunction, and in time, a Permanent Injunction,
enjoining, restraining and prohibiting Defendant, BESE, and any person
or agency who is charged with the implementation of the policies of
BESE, from implementing or administering any assessment system or tool
developed pursuant to the PARCC Memorandum.”
3. BESE Never Formally Approved Louisiana’s Participation In
PARCC:
“In
the exercise of its supervision and control over the public elementary
and secondary schools and special schools under its jurisdiction, BESE
has the authority to enter into contracts and agreements, in accordance
with applicable law. See La. Const. Art. VIII, Sec. 3; La. R.S. 17:6.
“In
January, 2010, in connection with its adoption of ‘common core,’ BESE
generally approved Louisiana’s participation in an Assessment
Consortium of states to develop and implement Common Core standards.
Six months later, in June, 2010, the State of Louisiana entered into
the PARCC Memorandum.
“BESE has never
specifically approved the State’s participation in PARCC or the PARCC
Memorandum and its associated obligations and commitments, including
PARCC’s centralized control of assessments and teaching products.
“The PARCC Memorandum has not been formally approved by BESE and is
thus invalid.”
###