The effort to ditch the Common Core State Standards Initiative in Louisiana hit a roadblock Tuesday, and the legislation could soon be killed before it hits the statehouse floor.
In a 61-36 vote, a motion for the legislation to bypass the House Education Committee was denied in Louisiana's state legislature, according to
The New Orleans Times-Picayune.
The measure will now be debated in the Education Committee, which is mostly supportive of Common Core. That means the motion is likely to end there, reports The Times-Picayune.
State Rep. Brett Geymann had introduced the legislation to repeal Common Core from the state's school system, and said parents he spoke with didn't think it would be given fair consideration in the committee. His motion Tuesday would have sent the bill straight to the House floor for debate and a vote.
"It's not really what we think. It is the perception of what the parents out there think," Geymann told The Times-Picayune. "They have lost faith in the process."
Geymann said parents were concerned after a group in favor of Common Core left unicorns on lawmakers' desks in the statehouse. The stunt was to show that any criticism of Common Core was based on make-believe, reports The Times-Picayune.
"The moms were very upset because of the mocking that took place last week," Geymann said. "They just don't think they are going to get a fair hearing."
Geymann's attempt at bypassing a committee was apparently a first.
"In the modern era, it's never been done. The motion never even has been made," Alfred Speer, Clerk of the Louisiana House, told The Times-Picayune.
Common Core is a set of standards that outline minimums for what students should know in English and math when they finish each grade. Forty-six states joined the program when the standards were released in 2010, but three have since abandoned it — Indiana, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. Others are working to repeal the legislation, while another group of states — Alaska, Nebraska, Texas, and Virginia — never joined the program at all.
In February, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal — a staunch Common Core opponent — said there was a
growing movement of moms that do not support the standards.
"Now there's a third pesky group called parents and moms that are against Common Core, and I wouldn't bet against them," Jindal said.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is expected to join the race for president on the Republican side, supports Common Core. His stance is in contrast to many of his GOP colleagues.
With a growing group of Americans opposed to the standards,
Bush's stance could be quite a large speed bump on his road to the White House.
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