COMMON CORE - September 17, 2015

Federal Judge Tosses Jindal’s Common Core Lawsuit. The New Orleans Times-Picayune (9/16) reports that US Judge Shelly Dick dismissed Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s Common Core lawsuit on Wednesday, ruling that “Common Core is not a curriculum and that federal education laws don’t infringe on states’ rights.” The article notes that Jindal filed the lawsuit “in 2014 as he prepared for a run for president,” and reports that he alleged that ED’s offer of “financial incentives, in two programs, for states to adopt shared mathematics and English benchmarks” was coercive and “violated the 10th Amendment.”         The AP (9/16, Deslatte) reports that the ruling blocks Jindal’s “request to block federal officials from penalizing his state if it scraps use of the Common Core education standards, saying Jindal failed to show any such threat exists.” The ruling refused Jindal’s “motion for a preliminary injunction against the U.S Department of Education.”         Andrew Ujifusa writes at the Education Week (9/16) “State EdWatch” blog that Jindal had sought to have “the Common Core State Standards blocked on a national basis,” noting that Dick’s ruling said that “the standards don’t represent an improper intrusion into education by Washington.” The Baton Rouge (LA) Advocate (9/16) also covers this story. “Vast Majority” Of Illinois Students Miss PARCC Benchmarks. The Chicago Tribune (9/16) reports that Illinois education officials released preliminary results from the first year of statewide PARCC testing on Wednesday, saying the results indicated that “the vast majority of Illinois students failed to reach the high academic bar...meaning they weren’t on track academically for the next grade level, let alone for college or careers.” The Tribune reports that results at the high school level were “even more dismal” than in lower grades.         The AP (9/17, Zaiger) reports that Illinois Superintendent Tony Smith had predicted that the scores would drop this year, and “warned districts in advance to gird for lousy marks by their charges on the initial Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers.” The piece notes that only 30% of high school students were proficient in English and 20% scored well in math.         The Chicago Sun-Times (9/17) reports that the results released by Smith were “startlingly low,” describing the PARCC tests as “controversial.” The results indicated that “a vast majority of [students] were not yet proficient in math or English language arts, with only between 28 percent and 38 percent of third- through eighth-graders meeting state standards.”         The Belleville (IL) News-Democrat (9/17) and the Chicago Daily Herald (9/16) also cover this story. New York To Shorten Common Core Tests. The New York Times (9/17, Harris, Subscription Publication) reports that New York Commissioner MaryEllen Elia announced on Wednesday that “standardized tests for third through eighth graders will be shortened this year,” calling the action “the latest retooling of a group of exams that have grown so unpopular that 20 percent of eligible children sat them out this past spring.” The Times reports that New York was the first state in the union to “align its tests with the Common Core standards,” and notes that this is “the second time tests have been shortened since they were introduced in 2013.”         The AP (9/17) reports that Elia said that “the length of the annual English and math assessments is one reason parents have had their children skip them.” Elia, speaking before the state Board of Regents, said, “There will be fewer questions in every grade level.”

New York To Shorten Common Core Tests. The New York Times (9/17, Harris, Subscription Publication) reports that New York Commissioner MaryEllen Elia announced on Wednesday that “standardized tests for third through eighth graders will be shortened this year,” calling the action “the latest retooling of a group of exams that have grown so unpopular that 20 percent of eligible children sat them out this past spring.” The Times reports that New York was the first state in the union to “align its tests with the Common Core standards,” and notes that this is “the second time tests have been shortened since they were introduced in 2013.”         The AP (9/17) reports that Elia said that “the length of the annual English and math assessments is one reason parents have had their children skip them.” Elia, speaking before the state Board of Regents, said, “There will be fewer questions in every grade level.”