Vitter Promotes Bill Prohibiting Federal Mandate of Common Core as Part of School Choice Week

Statement

In honor of School Choice Week, U.S. Senator David Vitter (R-La.) announced several reform bills he has introduced for the 114th Congress to expand school choice and promote local control of education. This list includes the Local Control of Education Act, which would prohibit the federal government from mandating that states adopt specific academic standards, including the Common Core standards, curriculum, or assessments. Additionally, this legislation would allow states that do not accept these standards to continue to qualify for federal grants and waivers currently limited to states that are in compliance with the standards. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) introduced the same bill in the U.S. House of Representatives today.

"When it comes down to it, I trust folks in Louisiana to make decisions regarding their children's education far more than I trust bureaucrats in Washington. Parents, along with local teachers, principals, and education leaders in our communities, know best on how to spend our education tax dollars," Vitter said. "We should reduce the size and scope of the federal government in our classrooms and return curriculum decision-making and use of taxpayer dollars to those closest to the students."

"The quality of our children's education is too high a priority to rely on a one-size-fits-all approach," Wilson said. "What works in New York or California may not work in Louisiana or South Carolina, and the federal government's overreach into our schools is unprecedented. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with Senator Vitter on efforts to return control over education to the states. Elected school board members and administrators, working together with teachers and parents, are best suited to manage our states' education systems. I have full faith and confidence in them -- not Washington bureaucrats -- to create college and career ready standards that work best for our students."

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