If You Let This Happen, It Will

Will feds take over public education?

Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow - 6/18/2009 7:00:00 AM

An educational expert is warning that new federal test standards could lead to a federal takeover of the nation's public schools.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently announced that the federal government will be spending up to $350 million to create standardized tests compatible with whatever standards are agreed upon by the Common Core State Standards Initiative. So far, 46 states have signed on to participate in the drafting of the educational standards.

Neal McCluskey, the associate director of the Cato Institute's Center for Educational Freedom, says essentially the states will be willing to accept the national tests if federal money comes with it. He adds that, unfortunately, if enough money is put on the table, the federal government will essentially be calling the shots.

McCluskey hopes that if this happens, people will demand more school choice.

"Well hopefully it will actually, if this does happen, embolden people to demand more school choice, because there are a lot of people who won't want a single standard imposed on their kids in public schools," he points out. "And if that's what they are going to get, they'll say, 'Well, I want another option, and I don't want my tax dollars to have to go to a system that not only doesn't the local board control, the state doesn't control, but the federal government controls it.'"

The Constitution does not give the federal government any control over education, according to McCluskey.

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