The state of Louisiana had joined most other states last year in agreeing to federal common core standards in education. As most states have, they recognized that the federal standards would improve education in the United States by making sure all states met a minimum standard, and by raising those standards so U.S. students could compete with students from other developed nations. Education is more important than ever in this modern world, and the United States simply cannot afford to let states set inadequate standards.
But a few days ago, Governor Bobby Jindal did a 180 degree turn and signed an executive order that would stop Louisiana from adopting the same standards, the common core standards, that most other states have adopted. It is not known whether Jindal actually had the authority to do this, and those who value education in the state are going to fight him on this (even if they have to go to court to uphold current law).
Why did Jindal do this? He did it because he wanted to protect his own political future. He spouted some tripe about the federal government taking over the state's schools, but he knows that is a lie. Agreeing to adopt higher standards doesn't give the federal government control over Louisiana's (or any other state's) schools. The schools would remain firmly in the control of state and local school boards.
Jindal still thinks he has a chance to become the GOP's presidential nominee in 2016, just like Perry in Texas and some other Republican governors. And those Republican governors know they cannot win the GOP nomination without the support of teabaggers and evangelicals (who together make up a majority of the party's base). And as Jindal, Perry, and others realize, the teabagger/evangelicals don't like the common core standards for education.
Note in the chart above, made from info in a recent NBC News / Wall Street Journal Poll, the teabaggers oppose the new stricter standards for education by a significant margin (53% to 38% -- a 15 point margin). The question is why do they oppose the common core standards. Do they really think that allowing their states to adopt lower standards than the federal standards is the way to help their own students get a good education? Do they really think the simple adoption of higher education standards enumerated by the federal government to assure consistency across the country is a "federal takeover" of their schools?
The truth is that this goes back to an argument that's been held in this country for many years -- about the teaching of religion in public schools. These teabagger/evangelicals know that the common core standards don't allow for the teaching of creationism instead of science in science classes, and doesn't allow the teaching of right-wing fundamentalist propaganda in history and government classes. And they are willing to sacrifice an adequate education for the children of this country to be able to teach their creationism and right-wing propaganda.
Fortunately, as the chart shows, most Americans disagree with the teabaggers and support adoption of the common core standards -- by 59% to 31%, a huge 28 point margin. Unfortunately, that doesn't help the students who live in Louisiana, Texas, and other teabagger-controlled states.
