BATON ROUGE — House lawmakers rejected an attempt here Monday to bypass their education committee and move an anti-Common Core bill to the House floor. The bill by Rep. Brett Geymann, R-Moss Bluff, got only 37 of the 53 votes it needed.

Geymann told the House his move was an effort to provide full debate on the issue, something that hasn’t been done. Some of the 61 opponents argued that doing so would disrupt the legislative process.

House Bill 373 would allow legislative approval of standards for elementary and middle schools and have them implemented by the 2017-18 school year. It is still set to be heard by the education committee.

Geymann, an outspoken critic of Common Core, said he wanted the bill heard on the House floor after parents and others opposed to Common Core were “mocked and ridiculed” by the pro-Common Core political action committee, Alliance for Better Classrooms. The PAC said that criticism of Common Core was comparable to unicorns, because it isn’t real. Last week, pink and white stuffed unicorns were handed out at the desks of House lawmakers on the floor, an act Geymann called “distasteful.”

Geymann said Rep. Stephen Carter, who chairs the education committee, was included on a list of sponsors for the PAC on its website, but Carter told him he was unaware of that. Carter, R-Baton Rouge, is no longer listed on the website, but Geymann said that because his name was on the list, parents felt that testifying before the committee was pointless.

“Perception is reality,” Geymann said. “Most of these moms are already nervous about testifying and coming to the Capitol. Now, they just feel like it’s not even worth the trouble.”

Carter said any legislation dealing with Common Core “will get a fair hearing” this session. He said that parents and teachers will have the chance to speak before the committee when the legislation is debated.

Carter said he has “always tried to be fair,” even being criticized at times. He and other lawmakers who opposed Geymann’s move said the education committee spent hours last year hearing testimony and debating legislation filed by Geymann that sought to scrap Common Core. The committee voted down that measure.

Rep. Nancy Landry, R-Lafayette, said that committee chairs have the right to take a stance on any bill, and that lawmakers should respect the legislative process.

“Chairs are not judges,” she said. “The legislative process works.”

Rep. Bob Hensgens, R-Abbeville, said after receiving hundreds of phone calls and emails, he believes those who oppose Common Core won’t be heard.

“The well has been poisoned on this issue, no doubt about it,” he said.

Despite the vote, Geymann said there are more lawmakers who support his measure but didn’t want to vote to move it to the House floor. He said his next move is “whatever I can find in the rule book.”

Southwest Louisiana lawmakers voting against moving the bill to the full House were House Speaker Chuck Kleckley, R-Lake Charles, Mike Danahay, D-Sulphur, A.B. Franklin, D-Lake Charles.

Geymann, Hensgens, Dorothy Sue Hill, D-Dry Creek, John Guinn, R-Jennings, and Frank Howard, R-Many, voted to move the bill from the education committee to the House floor.

Rep. James Armes, D-Leesville, was reported as absent.

Rep. Brett Geymann

MBR