Louisiana Gov. Jindal seeks to block Common Core school tests

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal outlined plans Wednesday to remove his state’s schools from the Common Core English and math education standards that he helped usher in four years ago.

The move comes amid a growing backlash against the standards, which aim to boost critical-thinking skills and apply consistency to a patchwork of state guidelines.

"We won't let the federal government take over Louisiana's education standards," Jindal, a Republican, said in a news release. "We're very alarmed about choice and local control over curriculum being taken away from parents and educators."

Jindal said he will issue an executive order to open competitive bidding for testing organizations — an apparent attempt to replace Louisiana's use of the federally developed tests.

State Superintendent of Education John White and state education board Chairman Chas Roemer, however, said they intend to continue the roll-out of Common Core.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has said Jindal’s opposition to the Common Core standards is politically driven. Duncan made his comments Tuesday on "CBS This Morning," when questioned about Jindal’s criticism of the English and math benchmarks.

The secretary noted that Louisiana's GOP governor once was a supporter of Common Core. He said of Jindal's switched position: "It's about politics, it's not about education."

Republicans are divided on Common Core, with opposition coming from tea party organizations.

Where the dispute heads next is unclear.

Forty-five states and the District of Columbia adopted the standards in 2010 after concerns arose that U.S. students were falling behind those in other industrialized countries.

Jindal is not the only governor pushing back against the more rigorous standards.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin signed a bill on June 5 repealing the standards, citing federal overreach and state’s rights as the primary reason for her decision — a frequent argument from opponents of the new standards system. It was a shift in opinion from January, when Fallin defended the standards at the National Governors Association meeting.

“Unfortunately, federal overreach has tainted Common Core. President [Barack] Obama and Washington bureaucrats have usurped Common Core in an attempt to influence state education standards. The results are predictable,” she said in a news conference. “What should have been a bipartisan policy is now widely regarded as the president’s plan to establish federal control of curricula, testing and teaching strategies.”

South Carolina and Indiana have also given Common Core the boot. The governors in those states, both Republicans, had criticized the standards for months before repealing them.

Wire services