Bobby Jindal in The Washington Times

On Education: I am for standards, but against Common Core

Jindal is hitching his wagon to the growing movement against the nationwide school standards known as Common Core, which have become a lightning rod for the tea party and other conservative activists.

Jindal won a major round of applause at the recent Republican Leadership Conference when he highlighted his opposition to the Obama administration-backed Common Core. He took a firm stand against the mathematics and English education standards that Louisiana and 44 other states have adopted. "I am for standards. I am for our kids learning," the second-term governor said. "I am for our kids being able to compete, but it seems to me there is something fundamentally wrong with the bureaucrats in the federal government--especially [those] who think they know best and [that children] don't need to listen to parents."

His current opposition to Common Core puts him at odds with John White, the Louisiana state superintendent of education, who was Jindal's top pick for the job.

Source: Washington Times 2014 coverage of 2016 presidential hopefuls Jun 8, 2014

On Education: Supported Common Core initially; now opposes it

With his outspoken opposition against Common Core, Jindal finds himself on the same page as grass-roots conservatives, who dub the standards "Obamacore." But activists say they want more than Jindal's verbal opposition to Common Core. They want him to support legislative efforts, or use his veto power, to put the brakes on some of the standardized tests.

[One Republican State Representative], who has led efforts to gut Common Core, said Jindal could have done more at the statehouse to get lawmakers on board: "He has not been engaged in the legislative process to get rid of Common Core, whereas with school choice he was very much engaged."

[One activist said], "it makes us question just exactly his true intent after he was so adamantly for Common Core." [Another activist said] Jindal has talked the talk and now she wants him to walk the walk, much like he did on school choice: "All we have is words right now," she said. "We've had no action

Source: Washington Times 2014 coverage of 2016 presidential hopefuls Jun 8, 2014

The above quotations are from Media coverage of political races in The Washington Times. Click here for other excerpts from Media coverage of political races in The Washington Times. Click here for other excerpts by Bobby Jindal. Click here for a profile of Bobby Jindal.
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