Dive Brief:

• Members of Louisiana's House Education Committee passed a bill giving local school districts control over which textbooks and resources they use. 

• Some committee members were apprehensive before voting, fearing Rep. John Schroder would use his bill as a vehicle to create an anti-Common Core bill by the time it reached the entire House of Representatives for a vote. 

• Last week, the state's House Education Committee voted against a repeal of the Common Core (12-7); Schroder was a big advocate for that bill, but he assured the committee that this new bill will not become Common Core-centric. 

Dive Insight:

While the Common Core is being viewed by some as federally mandated, overreaching standards, the reality is every teacher has their own teaching style and the information will be relayed somewhat differently.

The same is true with textbooks, which choose to arrange information differently or present it in unique ways. While the fear that Schroder could have adjusted the bill and made it more of a repeal of the Common Core is valid — specifically since he had been so vocal in last week’s meetings — the reality is that giving teachers control of the textbooks they use doesn’t actually do much in terms of pushing away from the new standards.

Additionally, if all of the state tests are tied to the national benchmarks, and school and teacher progress are also tied, it’s going to take a lot more than textbook agency to disrupt the Common Core bloc.