Art credit: blog.heartland.org
From cleveland.com, our
Republican legislators at work:
Efforts
to repeal the Common Core
educational standards in Ohio are a disheartening
"circus" that needs to fail, State Sen. Peggy Lehner said in a speech at the City Club today that was also
filled with praise for Cleveland's school improvement efforts and attempts to
create more preschool opportunities for city children.
Lehner, a Dayton-area Republican who chairs the Senate's
education committee, blasted House Bill 597 as political maneuvering filled
with several "hidden agendas." The bill, which
had hearings in the Ohio House the last two weeks, would kill the multi-state
Common Core standards if passed.
The packed room, filled mostly with educators and school
supporters, applauded when she called the bill and its hearings a circus.
"It would be downright silly if it wasn't so sad,"
said Lehner, a longtime supporter of the standards that the state school board
adopted in 2010.
Lehner has repeatedly said that the standards improve greatly on
Ohio's old ones and will raise expectations of students, which will give them
greater chances to be successful in life.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby
Jindal said he was filing a lawsuit on Wednesday against the
Obama administration over alleged manipulation of grant money to force states
to accept Common Core as their school standards.
Mr. Jindal is
also accusing the White House of manipulating the regulatory process to compel
states to take the much-disputed educational program, The Associated Press
reported.
The U.S. Department of Education
used its $4.3 billion grant program and waiver policy to press states into
accepting the same educational testing and standards program. Mr. Jindal said
that action “effectively forces states down a path toward a national
curriculum,” which violates the 10th Amendment of the Constitution — state
sovereignty, AP said.
Mr. Jindal also
alleged the action breaks federal laws that ban the federal government from
taking control of school and educational content.
He
was planning to file the complaint in federal court in Baton Rouge.
AP
was provided a draft copy of the suit.
“The
federal government has hijacked and destroyed the Common Core initiative,” Mr. Jindal said
in a statement reported by AP. “Common Core is the latest effort by big
government disciples to strip away state rights and put Washington, D.C., in
control of everything.”
At least Gov. Jindal is now actively challenging a policy he once supported. And he is getting blasted in the press for doing a 180 on a policy he was for, before he was against it.
The federal government should have NO say in education; that is what parents and teachers are supposed to do. Cleveland Tea Party Patriots thank all Ohio
patriots who submitted testimony at the recent hearings in Columbus.
