Dive Brief:
- Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal recently signed a bill that will allow local school districts to select which books and materials to use in their classrooms.
- The state's department of education will continue to review classroom materials and release lists of the material it approves, but districts won't be restricted to those lists.
- The law was popular with lawmakers, passing the state house with a unanimous vote.
Dive Insight:
Which textbooks and curriculum districts use is a dependable source of controversy, from the argument over teaching creationism in schools, to accusations of pro-Islam texts. The past year has seen high profile fights in Texas, Colorado, and elsewhere over changes to the AP History curriculum, typically a quiet corner of the education world. A fight in Texas over teaching creationism made it to the pages of the New York Review of Books.
In fact, Louisiana's decision is a rarity for being widely popular. Many other states have looser restrictions and far more flexibility in the materials they can use and Louisiana school administrators have celebrated the additional control it gives them over how to teach.
"Any local control we have, we're very pleased," a public information officer for Calcasieu Parish' school board told KPLC.