Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal took a jab at Arne Duncan, the secretary of education, during an address to the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday.
“I’m in favor for right now, suing Arne Duncan to make it clear, we need to remove Common Core from every classroom in America,” Jindal said. “We object to Common Core because the federal government has no right imposing curriculum, imposing content standards in local classrooms when these decisions have always been made by local parents, by teachers, by local leaders. … We’ve seen under President Obama the federal government get more involved, get more expensive, more expansive, more intrusive.”
Many states were pressured to adopt Common Core by the Obama administration in order to receive Race to the Top educational funding and waivers from No Child Left Behind’s burdens.
Just like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Jindal was in favor of the Common Core educational standards before switching his position. Jindal has previously said he switched his position because Common Core was not a “state-led initiative,” and that states committed to Common Core for Race to the Top educational funds before the standards were officially unveiled.
Jindal also spoke of the importance of education for opportunity. “We believe the circumstances of your birth don’t determine your outcomes as an adult. You shouldn’t have to be born to wealthy parents or in the right zip code to do great things in our country,” Jindal said. “[The Left] doesn’t think we’re smart enough to pick the best educational options for our children. The reality is that the dollars need to follow the child instead of making the child follow the dollars. We trust parents, not bureaucrats, to make the best decisions for their kids.”
Jindal added that education was crucial for a strong economy. “Our children could earn thousands of dollars more if we had great teachers in their classroom,” he said.
