NEWS

Judge allows Jindal’s anti-Common Core lawsuit to continue

Melinda Deslatte
Associated Press

BATON ROUGE – A federal judge has refused to throw out Gov. Bobby Jindal’s lawsuit against President Barack Obama’s administration over the Common Core education standards.

Jindal has accused U.S. education officials of manipulating $4.3 billion in federal grant money and policy waivers to illegally pressure states to adopt the English and math standards and associated testing. The Obama administration says Louisiana’s decision to use Common Core was voluntary, not coerced by the federal government.

The Obama administration sought to have the lawsuit dismissed, saying Jindal didn’t have the legal standing to bring the lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick rejected that argument Thursday, allowing the case to continue. In her written ruling, Dick stressed that her decision to keep the lawsuit alive was not an opinion about “merits of the claim.”