
WSJ: Cost of Rushing into Common Core Now a ‘Plague’ to States
The Wall Street Journal has added the word “plague” to the list of death-inspired terms frequently used now to characterize the unpopular Common Core standards education reform.

The Wall Street Journal has added the word “plague” to the list of death-inspired terms frequently used now to characterize the unpopular Common Core standards education reform.

Parents, teachers, and other citizens who oppose the Common Core standards in Louisiana say corporate cronyism propelled proponents of the highly unpopular reform to win the super-majority in the recent state board of education elections.

“The Review Portal is too difficult for the average parent without an educator’s assistance since there is so much jargon, redundancy, and education speak,” Louisiana parent activist Caryn Jenkins tells Breitbart News. “Asking a parent to understand what a large percentage of the standards mean is like asking a teacher to understand physician orders in a medical chart. Jenkins said many parents are intimidated by having to review education standards, and the time required to participate in the review process is equally daunting.

Jindal has heard the complaints of many parents in his state and has said that as a parent himself he could see the difficulties his own son was having with Common Core math. Ultimately, he unveiled an aggressive plan to eliminate Common Core in Louisiana, one that exposed how the state board of education and department of education can attempt to work around government rules and the state legislature in order to meet its own goals.

The Louisiana lawmaker who has led the fight against Common Core for several years in his state says the final deal agreed to in the legislature “gives us everything we asked for” and proves that “passionate” engagement by citizens is what makes the difference.

Louisiana lawmakers and parents who oppose Common Core are supporting a plan they say would ultimately rid the state of the controversial education initiative. However, Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal has “concerns” about the legislation.

As parents have continued to opt their children out of the testing aligned with the Common Core standards by the thousands in some states, in others, the testing has been halted entirely due to numerous technological glitches, leaving some state education officials worried their federal funding could be at stake as a result of low participation rates in the mandated tests.

It is becoming increasingly clearer that the main groups oppressing parents, local school boards, and local teacher unions with Common Core-based standards and tests (regardless of what they are actually called) are state boards of education and state departments of education.

GOP establishment governors wedded to both Chamber of Commerce dictates and Obama administration federal incentives are signing legislation that promises to keep much of the Common Core standards and their associated testing in place.

Despite threats from some school officials, more parents are opting to take their children out of the online tests associated with the Common Core standards that have been created by two federally funded interstate consortia.

The Arizona Senate Education Committee passed a measure on Thursday, by a vote of 5-2, that would repeal the Common Core standards in that state.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) unveiled a plan Wednesday that purports to eliminate the Common Core standards from his state.

The Colorado State Board of Education voted Friday to endorse a Republican-sponsored bill that would remove the state from the Common Core standards and their associated assessments.

The Virginia state Senate voted Friday to ban the adoption of the controversial Common Core standards without the prior approval of the General Assembly.