A ‘Common’ Debate: Common Core Curriculum Standards Are Promising But Dangerous [Mackinac Center]:
There are many other reasons to be skeptical of the Common Core’s ability to improve public education. Although collaboratively developed by state politicians, there is a very real threat the federal government will usurp control of these standards. The Obama administration’s decision to entice states to adopt these standards in order to qualify for the “Race to the Top” federal grant was a step in this direction.
If the federal government gains control of these standards, it’s unlikely they will remain rigorous. They will become highly politicized, and wealthy special interest groups (notably, teachers unions and public school officials) will lobby to have these standards reduced or watered down.
None of this would harm Michigan if the state could maintain its ability to back away from the standards at any time. But if the federal government again ties resources to the use of these standards, and if Michigan is heavily “invested,” opting out may become politically and practically difficult, if not impossible.
High standards should be used to hold tax-funded schools accountable for delivering educational opportunities to students. This is a worthy goal. But it’s more easily achieved by creating a marketplace of educational services where those who know and care the most about the best interests of children — parents —are the ultimate arbiters of quality. This decentralized and apolitical accountability beats any top-down dictate from the state.
The reality is though that until all parents have the ability to hold schools accountable by saying “no thank you” and voting with their feet, we’ll have to rely on some form of state-mandated accountability standards. The Common Core are better than Michigan’s status quo on this count, but also dangerous. Ideally, Michigan would implement better standards without risking the certain dangers associated with federal control of these standards.
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