Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R.) blasted reports Tuesday that teachers are being reprimanded for speaking out against Common Core standards on social media.
A teacher in Rapides Parish, in Alexandria, La., was "written up" for writing a negative post on Facebook about the controversial standards, according to Town Talk.
"This is a hot national debate," the teacher told the paper. "Why can't I comment? I did not say a word about anything locally."
Jindal, who is suing the Obama administration for coercing states into adopting the standards, said silencing teachers is not helpful to the debate.
"This is outrageous. Teachers are now being chastised for speaking out against Common Core," he said. "Teachers have problems with Common Core, and we should be listening to them."
"Instead, government bureaucrats and political elites are trying to quiet teachers who think Common Core isn’t the right direction for our state," Jindal said.
The Town Talk reported on the "climate of fear" for teachers in the central Louisiana school district. One teacher said they feel like they are living "under a dictatorship," and others worry they could lose their jobs for speaking out against the school administration.
Teachers in the parish are also not allowed to speak to the press "without going through the chain of command."
Controversy surrounding the Common Core standards has been brewing for months, as the curriculum has been criticized for its unusual methods of teaching math.
Jindal’s office has said support for the standards is "crumbling" across the nation. Common Core has been repealed in South Carolina, Oklahoma, and Indiana, and an additional 32 states have introduced legislation against the standards.