Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal plans to file a lawsuit today against the Obama administration "accusing it of illegally manipulating federal grant money and regulations to force states to adopt the Common Core education standards."
The U.S. Department of Education has used a $4.3 billion grant program and federal policy waivers to encourage states to adopt uniform education standards and testing. The Republican governor says that "effectively forces states down a path toward a national curriculum" in violation of the state sovereignty clause in the Constitution and federal laws that prohibit national control of education content.
A draft of the lawsuit was provided to the Associated Press.
"The federal government has hijacked and destroyed the Common Core initiative," Jindal said in a statement. "Common Core is the latest effort by big government disciples to strip away state rights and put Washington, D.C., in control of everything."
Jindal initially supported the standards when they were adopted by the state's board of education. He subsequently changed his mind "earlier this year, however, and now says he opposes the standards because they are an effort by the Obama administration to meddle in state education policy."
Arne Duncan, the Secretary of Education, has criticized Jindal. 'In a June interview with "CBS This Morning,' the secretary said of Jindal's switched position: 'It's about politics, it's not about education.'
