The Duncan/Obama Eduagenda Starting To Falter?

Louisiana Board Member Quits Over Growing Federal Imprint


One of Gov. Bobby Jindal's appointees to Louisiana's board of education abruptly resigned yesterday in protest over what she says is a troubling federal influence on the state's K-12 policies.

In her resignation letter to the Republican governor, Tammie McDaniel wrote that by serving on the board she was "complicit in supporting federal policies that I genuinely oppose," according to the Associated Press.

Her resignation signals a growing chorus of state officials who are publicly expressing their disenchantment with the K-12 initiatives of the Obama administration.

Louisiana's public schools, led by state Superintendent Paul G. Pastorek, are widely viewed as one of the strongest contenders in the $4 billion federal Race to the Top competition. But McDaniel, a former principal and teacher, fundamentally disagrees with the state's efforts to shape its K-12 policies according to guidelines laid out by the Obama administration in RTTT and other federal initiatives.