UPDATED
A Louisiana judge has thrown out a lawsuit brought by Gov. Bobby Jindal and state legislators seeking to invalidate the state’s adoption of the Common Core State Standards.
On March 30, District Court Judge Tim Kelley dismissed a lawsuit brought by Jindal and seventeen legislators, who alleged that the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education violated the state’s Administrative Procedures Act by adopting the common core the way it did. They charged state K-12 officials with not allowing for sufficient legislative oversight and not providing adequate public notice before adopting the standards.
As I wrote about last July, the suit claimed that because the state’s intent to adopt the standards wasn’t published in the state Register at least 70 days beforehand, members of the public were “denied their procedural due process rights to have their comments and concerns heard by Defendants prior to [the state school board’s] adoption, and [the state school board’s] and/or the Superintendent’s implementation and enforcement of the Common Core Standards.”
New Orleans Times-Picayune reporter Julia O’Donoghue reported that Kelley threw out the suit on technical grounds:
In an interview, Judge Tim Kelley said he threw out #lalege #CommonCore case because it was filed too late. #LaEd
— Julia O’Donoghue (@JSODonoghue) March 30, 2015
Superintendent John White posted a statement about Kelley’s ruling on the state education department’s web page that read in part: “Today’s court decision, dismissing an attempt by the Governor and legislators to force teachers back to the drawing board, is another validation that there is no academic or legal basis for the extremist path. Louisiana deserves a professional plan, not a political plan.”
I’ve asked Jindal’s office if the governor plans to appeal Kelley’s ruling, and will update this post if I hear back. UPDATE: In a statement, Jindal said he supported state legislators who are appealing Kelley’s ruling.
Jindal, remember, still has a lawsuit in federal court in which he accuses the U.S. Department of Education of forcing the common core on states as part of a federal scheme to dictate classroom instruction. Last month, a judge allowed that lawsuit (which was filed last August) to proceed.
This is just the latest development in a battle over the standards and the aligned assessments in the Pelican State. Check out my just-updated timeline of the situation below: