As a central piece of his education reform agenda heads to the state Supreme Court for review, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on Tuesday unloaded on teachers unions and painted them as the biggest reason American schools continue to wallow in mediocrity.

“There is one entity working hard every day, spending millions of dollars every year, to make sure you never get the opportunity to get your child out of a failing school and into a different school, and that is the teachers union,” Mr. Jindal said during a speech in Washington.

His remarks came in conjunction with the release of a new report on educational choice from the Brookings Institution, which found that several Louisiana districts are among the best in offering parents more options and better access to charter and other alternative schools.

“Were it not for the teachers unions’ herculean efforts, every low-income family would probably have the opportunity to enroll their child in a better performing school. [Teachers unions] alone are stopping school choice from occurring all across this country,” he continued.

Mr. Jindal’s comments echoed those offered recently by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, outgoing Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and first-term Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, all Republicans who have had high-profile clashes with teachers unions, the largest and most influential labor groups in the nation. Those unions in recent months have seen success in beating back reform efforts centered on school voucher systems, merit pay for teachers, changes to teacher tenure systems and other efforts.

Mr. Jindal’s landmark education overhaul is the latest to run into stiff opposition not only from unions but also in state courts.

Louisiana’s school voucher system, one of the most ambitious efforts in the U.S. to allow parents to use public money to send their children to private or parochial schools, was ruled unconstitutional by a state judge late last month. Mr. Jindal’s administration now is appealing that ruling to the state Supreme Court.

“I’m confident we’ll prevail,” he said.

In Wisconsin, Mr. Walker has faced similar resistance. A judge earlier this year struck down his attempt to strip teachers of most of their collective bargaining rights.

In Indiana, Mr. Daniels‘ state schools chief, Tony Bennett, was ousted by voters in favor of a union official after the Hoosier state enacted its own sweeping set of school reforms. Those changes included a major expansion of charter schools and the implementation of the largest voucher system in the nation.

The future of those reforms is now unclear, as Mr. Bennett leaves office in January and Mr. Daniels vacates his post to become president of Purdue University.

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Every time a teacher whines about the voucher system I make sure to remind them that they haven't done such a great job. If it wouldn't be for Mississippi Louisiana would be dead last in the rankings.

The one positive thing Katrina did was to shut the corrupt Orleans Parish down. The state took over the system and implemented the voucher system. It has been successful.