Will teachers in Vermilion be teaching Common Core when school starts?

With public school starting two months from now, there is a chance that educators may not be teaching the unpopular Common Core academic standards because of the vocal battle between State Superintendent John White and Gov. Bobby Jindal over Common Core.
White said recently that educators deserve to know that Louisiana is committed to following through with its adoption of Common Core academic standards, taking a swipe at Jindal, who is still threatening to get rid of it.
Speaking to thousands of teachers gathered in New Orleans for a conference on the transition, White said, “You deserve clarity, you deserve a long-term plan, you deserve not to have standards and curriculum and assessments tossed about in the morning headlines like they can be changed with the waving of a magic wand.”
Before that conference, Jindal gave his opinion about Common Core in New Orleans.
“I’m against the Common Core, and I don’t want Louisiana to be in the Common Core,” he said to booming applause at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans.
Louisiana has been moving toward the Common Core since 2010, gearing up for a new set of standards spelling out which skills students should master in each grade.
Vermilion Parish parents made noise about what they did not like about Common Core at the start of this past school year. Many argued the program should go away.
“This whole process has been rushed, and now we are going to be deliberate and get the next steps right,” Jindal said in a statement. “Education is best left to local control, and we will act to ensure that remains the case in Louisiana.”
Vermilion Parish Superintendent Jerome Puyau said on record he has never been against Common Core. He did not like how quickly the state implemented the Common Core program - two years before most superintendents expected it to occur.
Puyau said the state needs to keep some kind higher- education standards in place, may it be the Common Core or another program.
“The standards are in place right now and are at a higher level,” said Puyau at an Abbeville Rotary meeting. “The standards today are more rigourous and the students are learning a new way, which they can prove they have the knowledge compared to any other student in the state or United States. We do not want to go backwards or drop.
“We have to feel the standards are aligned to what is best for the students in Vermilion Parish.”
Puyau said Jindal and White are playing a game of chess when it comes to education in Louisiana and the children are the pawns.

Common Core Rally on Saturday
A loosely-organized group of parents and educators from many parishes around the state have planned a rally in Baton Rouge on the state capitol steps for this coming Saturday, June 14th. This event is open to the public.
In a demand for more local control of public education, the grass roots group’s rallying points cover three areas: the removal of national Common Core standards, the removal of the aligned national PARCC testing, and the removal of Louisiana State Superintendent of Education John White.
Several speakers are lined up, and parents attending the rally will be given tips for networking with public officials to achieve their goals and how best to express their concerns based on their own experience with Common Core. The Common Core standards were implemented this past school year in Louisiana in grades K through 12.
Statewide, parents and educators have expressed they want input into the public education of their children and students; many feel that public input has been absent with Common Core and PARCC. Many concerned parents weren’t able to attend legislative sessions which are held mostly on weekdays during normal working hours.