Lawsuit seeks to undo governor's orders on testing
Lawsuit seeks to undo governor's orders on testing Lawsuit seeks to undo governor's orders on testing Check out this story on thenewsstar.com: http://tnsne.ws/1mGRw8Q
Mike Hasten Published 6:59 p.m. CT July 22, 2014 | Updated 10:57 p.m. CT July 23, 2014
Gov. Bobby Jindal in West Monroe in June. (Photo: MARGARET CROFT/THE NEWS-STAR )Buy Photo
BATON ROUGE – A group of teachers, parents and a charter school management organization filed a lawsuit Tuesday arguing that Gov. Bobby Jindal reached beyond his authority in interfering with the Department of Education's ability to contract with a testing firm.
The suit charges that what the governor did in blocking the purchase of tests used in the state's accountability program is illegal and unconstitutional.
Jindal and his attorney, Jimmy Faircloth, say there's no basis to the lawsuit because the governor has the authority to do what he did.
Jindal issued an executive order suspending the education department's contract to purchase test questions and his Division of Administration is insisting that the department and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education take bids on a new contract that the governor would have some control over.
The lawsuit asks that a judge lift the executive order prohibiting BESE and Superintendent of Education John White from fulfilling their duties.
It alleges that the governor's executive orders and Commissioner of Administration Kristi Nichols' allegations that the department violated state contract law "are a pretext to conceal their attempt to change the assessments that BESE is implementing in accordance with state law, and to set their own education policy, despite the Louisiana Constitution's grant of that authority to the Legislature and BESE."
The suit claims that the governor's and Nichols' actions to suspend the testing contracts were "beyond the scope of their lawful authority, arbitrary and capricious, improper, and in bad faith."
The plaintiffs seek a temporary injunction lifting the governor's orders.
Lead attorney Stephen Kupperman, of New Orleans, said that if that is granted, he will seek a permanent injunction and declaratory judgment saying the governor was wrong.
He said the lawsuit seeks to "get education in the state back on track."
BESE has considered filing a similar lawsuit and recruited an attorney but the Jindal administration says it first must get approval of the governor's Office of Contractual Review to hire the attorney.
"Neither BESE nor the Department of Education is a party to this lawsuit," Superintendent John White said. "However, with school starting in three weeks, it is critical that our state resolve as soon as possible the issue of who determines the content of state tests."
The law firm of Barrasso, Usdin, Kupperman, Freeman and Sarver, LLC, of New Orleans filed the suit. Kupperman, the firm's founding partner, and Michael A. Balascio are lead attorneys.
Named defendants are Jindal, Nichols and Pamela Barfay Rice, director of the Office of Contractual Review.
The plaintiffs include Navis Hill, Michael Stenson, Amanda Stenson, Illumani Johnson, Erin Comeaux and Catherine Golden (Orleans Parish), Latricia Bowers and Carrie Adams (East Baton Rouge Parish), Courtney Dumas (Ascension Parish) and Choice Foundation, a charter management organization that operates three schools in Orleans Parish.
The group is operating with the financial support of the Black Alliance for Educational Options, an organization that has sided with Jindal in supporting the state's voucher program, higher standards and changes in school governance.
BAEO President Kenneth Campbell said he and Jindal have stood together on a number of issues but on this one, "I'm very disappointed about the potential for a very disruptive change."
"The governor's unilateral actions have caused immediate chaos in the education system," Kupperman said.
"Chaos is an accurate word for this," said plaintiff Courtney Dumas, a teacher in Ascension Parish who said she will be in a classroom in two weeks not knowing what test will be administered at the end of the year.
She said she supports Common Core standards because "test results have shown they are working. We're teaching children critical thinking like never before" and "preparing them for jobs that don't exist yet."
Kupperman said the governor and his administration do not have the authority to suspend BESE's contracts with vendors or to insist on which questions should be included in statewide assessments.
Jindal responded "This lawsuit has no merit" and state law "gives the Division of Administration the authority and responsibility to ensure that all offices of the executive branch follow proper contractual procedures.
"And under the Louisiana Constitution, the governor's office has the responsibility to ensure the laws of the state are faithfully executed," he said. "The Louisiana Department of Education needs to stop delaying, issue an RFP, and follow the law."
Faircloth said he believes the lawsuit "does a disservice to the public" because "every agency has to comply with the law." He said he finds it "a bit ironic that it claims the governor overstepped his authority by encouraging the Division of Administration to do its job."
It's not unusual to shape policy with executive orders, he said, if "the end justifies the means." He added "There's nothing unlawful about what the governor has done."
Plaintiff Jim Swenson, chairman of the Choice Foundation, said he finds it ironic that "two years ago, Gov. Jindal came to Lafayette Academy where he endorsed Common Core."
Kupperman said the petition for temporary injunction is set for hearing on Aug. 4.
This is the second Common Core lawsuit this week. In the other suit, a group of legislators alleges that BESE should have followed the Administrative Procedures Act in adopting Common Core standards.
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