Common Core is a full-blown political issue, and Louisiana residents need only turn to the battle between Gov. Bobby Jindal and his fight within his own state.

Louisiana adopted the standards four years ago — at the time supported by Jindal — but now the governor is suing President Barack Obama’s administration over Common Core, saying it’s a federal attempt to administer a national education system.

The governor’s flip-flopping and the seemingly inability of any Democrat to get on the same page with any Republican about a national issue of substance, this one in particular, has left students and teachers stuck in the middle.

The Common Core standards are math and English benchmarks laying out what students should know after completing each grade. In just about all of the 40 states that have adopted the system so far, this means increasing the expectations we hold for our students.

Credit goes to St. James Parish Schools officials for diving full force into new Eureka Math and the Wonders Reading program this school year.

Putting political alliances — one way or the other — aside, these new programs require more from our students while better preparing them for the future, one increasingly competed at on a global level.

This is especially evident in St. James Parish, where Chinese company Yuhuang Chemical Inc. announced this summer its plans to locate in the parish as part of the Port of South Louisiana.

The global marketplace is no longer just a concept; it comes to every one of our front steps.

When Anne Detillier, the school district’s administrative director of curriculum and instruction, discussed the new programs and their benefits for St. James Parish, her focus wasn’t about politics, but about performance.

“I think we will be seeing our students succeed in a more global world,” Detillier said.

“I just think we are trying to set our students up for success, not just success here, but success globally.”

If success means adopting Eureka Math and Wonders Reading, extra school work shouldn’t be the reason we hold our students back.