Ville Platte Rotary Club receives legislative update from Senator Eric LaFleur

September 9, Meeting
During the September 9, meeting of the Ville Platte Rotary Club, Rotarian Jimmy LeBlanc invited State Senator Eric LaFleur to give an update on the recent legislative session in Baton Rouge.
The biggest topic of discussion during the session, LaFleur noted, was the controversy over the “Common Core” standards that Governor Bobby Jindal is now suing the state to revoke. Governor Jindal, who initially was a strong supporter of the Common Core standards, now sees the program has morphed into a national agenda by the federal government getting involved in our schools. LaFleur admitted that the nation and the state of Louisiana does need a common standard to measure student progress and he thinks Common Core is actually a good policy in theory. However, the current standards in place may need to be reevaluated to improve the program. He added that each local and state education board selects its own text books that meet the required standards. He noted 44 states have adopted the same type of standards and that Common Core has been supported by business groups and the Chamber of Commerce, adding Superintendent of Education John White and the BESE Board are in favor of Common Core. LaFleur noted that teachers are worried because their standing is affected by the performance of their students and they must basically “teach to the test.” He added that the state ACT score average has increased by a whole point to a point and a half.
LaFleur then discussed other legislative issues, noting the state continues to balance the books by utilizing one-time funds that are now rapidly being depleted. He stated that the spring session will probably consist of “finagling” the books a little and that road projects and other projects will continue to be pushed further back down the line due to budget issues.