(Metairie, La.) – U.S. Sen. David Vitter sent a letter to Louisiana Department of Education Superintendent John White this week urging the state to stop designating Eureka Math as the preferred curriculum.

“I’ve been meeting with and hearing from parents all across the state, and I’m concerned with the extreme difficulty and frustration many students and parents are having with Eureka Math,” Vitter said. “As a practical matter, many local systems have felt pressured to adopt it, particularly smaller systems with very limited curriculum review and development resources. Any pressure to adopt it needs to stop immediately.”

St. Tammany Parish School Board recently ordered Eureka Math to be dropped from the district's curriculum by the next school year.

Below is the text of Vitter’s letter.

October 20, 2014

Superintendent John White
Louisiana Department of Education
1201 North Third Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70802

VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL AND OVERNIGHT DELIVERY
IMMEDIATE ATTENTION REQUESTED

RE: Local control over curriculum, alternatives to Eureka Math

Dear Superintendent White:

I am very concerned with the extreme difficulty and frustration many students and parents are having with Eureka Math.  And I believe this experience illustrates that, while local control over curriculum is the rule in theory, it is clearly not fully or adequately protected and implemented in practice.

As you know, the Eureka Math curriculum is not mandated per se.  But it is the only math curriculum designated as Tier 1 by your department.  As a practical matter, this has caused many local systems to feel pressured to adopt it, particularly smaller systems with very limited curriculum review and development resources.

To correct this, I strongly urge your department to aggressively emphasize and protect local control over curriculum and, in particular, to:

1)      Stop designating Eureka Math as the preferred curriculum in any way.

2)      Ensure that local school systems have all appropriate resources to identify several strong math curricula, including those that use no elements of Eureka Math.

3)      Ensure that Louisiana's testing regime in no way disadvantages students taught under these non-Eureka Math alternatives.

Thank you for your attention to this very important matter.

Sincerely,

David Vitter
U.S. Senator

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