But in both cases, the national process of public review did work. It caused the revision and improvement of the history standards, and it immediately saw through the English non-standards. If we ever get serious about standards, they are likely to look like concentric circles. Governors of both parties worry that a federal agency might one day decide to cut off federal funding to states that refuse to accept its mandates. But a nongovernmental agency would not have any enforcement weapons with which to threaten states and districts.
National standards are essential both for equal opportunity and for excellence.
We cannot avoid the issue. The only question is whether they will continue to be minimal or will be as challenging as the international standards used on our leading tests and by our leading competitors.