Dive Brief:
- A Louisiana bill calling for the defunding of Common Core-aligned assessments has opponents predicting chaos if it passes.
- While the bill is aimed at the PARCC test, the state's education department says the bill would also affect AP exams and ACT College Readiness exams.
- The Advocate newspaper, the state House appropriations committee intended to discuss the bill Monday, and state Rep. Brett Geymann, a leading Common Core opponent, says he drafted it in the interest of transparency.
Dive Insight:
Louisiana's ongoing war on the Common Core has now found its battleground in this bill. While Gov. Bobby Jindal is opposed to the Common Core, state superintendent John White is a fan — hence his argument that defunding the PARCC tests will cause chaos.
The main argument of the office of the superintendent is that if the bill defunds the PARCC consortium, the defunding will apply to any other consortium's assessment funding as well, unless the legislation is specifically calling out PARCC.
Additionally, White's office contends the new legislation will create an expectation where testing will always be in flux. According to a memo, “The bill would prevent the Department of Education from providing assurances to the education system of tests to be administered the following school year until the legislative session was concluded in June. This means that teachers would leave school every year without knowing the tests students would take the following year.”