"A child's learning is the function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher." James Coleman, 1972

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Louisiana Withdraws from PARCC and Jindal Moves to Block Pearson Test Purchase

In the latest bad news for the Oligarchs' Common Core enterprise, Bobby Jindal has moved to sever the head from the Common Core monster in Louisiana.  He knows that without the Pearson tests that PARCC is force-feeding the states without the benefit of a bidding process, the Core will disappear within a couple of years.  

Jindal's office has notified the State Department of Education that purchasing the Pearson tests without bidding is a violation of state law.  So even though corporate stooge and State Supt., John White, says the state will keep on teaching to the standards, there will be no test, apparently, until the bidding process is opened up.  

If I were holding Pearson stock, I would put my Sell order in today.   From Times Picayune:

Jindal's plan to ditch Common Core in Louisiana is multi-pronged. He has contacted the consortium to remove the state from the the testing combine, and he wants to block the Education Department, which White runs with state school board oversight, from buying the new tests.

The governor said Louisiana's agreement to buy the test doesn't comply with state law. It calls for the state to enter into a contract without going through a competitive bid process, he said, so the consortium must be considered against other options. Jindal said competition would surely result in a different exam because the consortium "is, at least anecdotally, more expensive than many of the other tests offered out there."

Jindal also notified the National Governors Association that he was removing Louisiana from the Common Core development group. That does not end the use of the standards but is more of a symbolic gesture.

The governor acknowledged he can't scrap Common Core entirely without the support of the Legislature or the state school board. He said he intends to urge lawmakers, who just concluded their 2014 session, to act in 2015.

At this point, that would be an uphill battle. Lawmakers refused to ditch the standards this year, despite having several opportunities. Legislators involved in education said their colleagues didn't seem interested in following Jindal's lead.
"The Legislature has spoken loudly on this issue," said Sen. Conrad Appel, R-Metairie, chair of the Senate Education Committee.


Still, getting rid of the Common Core test would go a long way toward getting Louisiana to ditch the standards altogether, Jindal said. "Common Core is, to my mind, defined by the test," he said.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:34 PM

    Diane Ravitch is supporting White in LA because.....
    http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org/news/john-white-ignore-governor-jindal-diane-ravitchs-blog/
    and not supporting Cuomo in NY on Common Core because....
    WTF?
    What about the children Diane?
    http://dianeravitch.net/2014/06/19/new-york-parents-outraged-by-cuomos-deal-on-tests-what-about-the-children/

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  2. Jindal is hardly a shining example of being anti-oligarchy. Everything he has implemented as governor of Louisiana has reeked of his pro-religion, right wing agenda: No medicaid expansion, anti-abortion, (he just signed the clinic TRAP legislation into law at a CHURCH--which is against Fed. law--anti-sex-ed in public schools (where Louisiana has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates and STD rates), Pro-creationism in public schools, etc.,
    Why is Jindal, yet another right wing hack, being given any credibility at all? It is pure political pandering if he claims to be against Common Core.

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  3. Jindal is a piece of shit, and that will remain the truth if he kills Common Core or not. If he kills Common Core, that will serve the agenda of those who want the end of Common Core. I don't give a damn what his motivations are or what an he is made of, if he does the right thing. Get it?

    ReplyDelete