Igniting new controversy, Gov. Bobby Jindal said Wednesday he is ordering Louisiana out of the Common Core tests as part of a series of moves to drop the new academic standards after the Legislature refused to do so.Though I'm not a great fan of Common Core, what Jindal is about is disallowing intrusion by the feds in schools in Louisiana and allowing instructions in creationism, a 10,000 year young earth, and humans walking with dinosaurs in science classes because of pressure Christian fundamentalists including the likes of Tony Perkins and his Focus on the Family tribe. Also, students in some of the junk charter schools that the state supports with tuition vouchers will never pass the tests, but Jindal does not want anyone to know.
“We need to start this process over,” Jindal told reporters.
But state Superintendent of Education John White, who Jindal pushed for the job, took the unusual step of publicly charging that the governor is wrong on the law and that Common Core plans will continue for the 2014-15 school year.
I hope his latest maneuver to throw out the tests without the approval of the State Superintendent of Education, John White, whom he appointed to great fanfare, and Chas Roemer, president of BESE (Board of Elementary and Secondary Education), is illegal. I hope he does something illegal that has consequences, because Jindal is a virtual dictator, since even the usually supine state legislature would not vote to throw out Common Core, and he's determined to act on his own.
He's living a fantasy if he thinks he will be the candidate of the Republican Party, but, in the meantime, he is destroying the state. Since John White is defying Jindal at the moment, I would not be surprised if Jindal fired him.
Jindal is under great pressure from fundamentalist Christians like Tony Perkins and his gang. He graduated with a degree in biology from Brown University and was a Rhodes Scholar. Presumably, he knows the science, but he operates from pure personal lust to be president or, at the very least, vice-president of the US.
Louisianans have always loved their dictators - but this bird isn't even a good demagogue. He's just a self-serving creep, I can't think of any politer word for him.
ReplyDeleteAt least here in TX King Rick has graciously decided to lay down the throne and scepter next year - I sure hope you all have term limits on your governors, unlike TX!
Fortunately, Jindal cannot run again. State institutions would be completely destroyed after a third term.
DeleteDavid and John, I'm so sorry. I hit "delete" instead of "publish" by mistake. The buttons are so close together. Here is your comment as copied from the email.
ReplyDeleteDavid and John has left a new comment on your post "BOBBY JINDAL - DICTATOR OF LOUISIANA":
I think of you whenever I read some news about your crazy governor and his antics. I think you hit the nail on the head when you pointed out how Jindal bends over backwards for nut cases like Perkins and his AFA cohorts. It's obvious Jindal fears them for some reason.
Jindal wants to be president, and he thinks he can accomplish this by appealing to the fringe fundamentalist Christian and tea party types. Perhaps by some freakish turn of events Jindal may become the Republican Party candidate. Should this happen, I believe he will be a gift to the nominee of the Democratic Party. Once the national press begins to scrutinize his governance in Louisiana publicize his failures, he will be unelectable.
DeleteIt is sad, but it is even sadder that it has major consequences for the children in our Louisiana school system. Corporations have a hard time recruiting people to work for them in Louisiana because of the poor system of education and things like this only make it worse.
ReplyDeleteJindal is only playing politics and trying to appease the far right of the Republican party, but at the expense of our children.
John
All Jindal's talk and actions arise from pure, naked ambition, not for any concern whatsoever about the people of Louisiana. The public school systems, principals, and teachers must be suffering from whiplash as a result of Jindal's indecisiveness. He was for Common Core before he was against it.
DeleteState funding for higher education has been drastically reduced during Jindal's two terms after reaching the southern average in 2008 for the first time in 25 years.
I know it's almost a month later, but ye gods and little fishes, I had no idea Louisiana state government had gone so mad!
ReplyDeletePerry didn't run again because he embarrassed himself so badly in the last GOP primary. One thing Texans don't take too is statewide politicians who embarrass the state on the national stage. It ain't much, but it's something.
But Jindal? Wow. Common Core is neither a federal mandate nor that much of a scandal; it's basically an attempt to be sure all students nationwide actually learn some basic competencies. To the extent that involves corporations selling materials and tests, I'm not too keen on it. But the basic idea of being sure education actually means education, is a good one.
Which, as you say, would more than explain Jindal's opposition. As for running for POTUS, is he even on anybody's radar screen? I mean, Perry has less of a chance than he did four years ago, but he's still being noticed. Jindal? I think most people don't realize he's still a governor....
The feud between Jindal and Superintendent of Education John White and Chas Roemer, president of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, both appointees of the governor, has heated up in a month, with the two sides claiming the law means different things. Teachers and students will be suffering from whiplash from the sudden changes in policy if Jindal has his way. Perhaps White and Roemer finally view Jindal as the charlatan he has been since the beginning.
DeleteJindal's abandonment of Common Core is nothing less than pure ambition. He may still live in Fantasyland about his chances to be either the candidate for president or vice-president, but I don't see how, though, in my wilder imaginings, when I look at rogue's gallery of potential candidates on the Republican side, it may be possible that Jindal could be the sole rogue left standing. His best hope for is a well-paid lobbyist job, and, with the new position on Common Core, he may be positioning himself for such a job. As one article stated, Jindal is "a tightly wrapped ball of ambition".
So many typos on one small space...
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