IV 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 476 
Strongly supporting the restoration and protection of State authority and 
flexibility in establishing and defining challenging student academic 
standards and assessments, and strongly denouncing the President’s coer-
cion of States into adopting the Common Core State Standards by 
conferring preferences in Federal grants and flexibility waivers. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 11, 2014 
Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, 
Mr. HARRIS, Mr. MULVANEY, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. COLLINS of 
Georgia, Mr. HULTGREN, Mr. HUELSKAMP, Mr. MASSIE, Mrs. BLACK-
BURN, Mr. TERRY, Mr. AMASH, Mr. COTTON, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, 
Mr. SALMON, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. JONES, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. POMPEO, Mr. 
SANFORD, Mr. KINGSTON, Mr. LANCE, Mr. BENTIVOLIO, Mr. COOK, Mr. 
CRAMER, Mr. DAINES, Mr. FLEMING, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. BISHOP of 
Utah, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. STUTZMAN, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. YOHO, 
Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. FLORES, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. 
CHABOT, Mr. ROONEY, Mr. STEWART, Mr. CRAWFORD, Mr. GOSAR, and 
Mr. BENISHEK) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
RESOLUTION 
Strongly supporting the restoration and protection of State 
authority and flexibility in establishing and defining chal-
lenging student academic standards and assessments, 
and strongly denouncing the President’s coercion of 
States into adopting the Common Core State Standards 
by conferring preferences in Federal grants and flexi-
bility waivers. 
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•HRES 476 IH 
Whereas education belongs in the hands of our parents, local 
officials, local educational agencies, and States; 
Whereas the development of the common education standards 
known as the Common Core State Standards was origi-
nally led by national organizations, but has transformed 
into an incentives-based mandate from the Federal Gov-
ernment; 
Whereas, in 2009, the National Governors Association Center 
for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of 
Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), both of which are 
private trade associations, began developing common edu-
cation standards for kindergarten through grade 12 (re-
ferred to in this preamble as the ‘‘Common Core State 
Standards’’); 
Whereas, sections 9527, 9529, 9530, and 9531 of the Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 7907, 7909, 7910, and 7911) prohibit the estab-
lishment of a national curriculum, national testing, man-
datory national teacher certification, and a national stu-
dent database; 
Whereas Federal law makes clear that the Department of 
Education may not be involved in setting specific content 
standards or determining the content of State assess-
ments in elementary and secondary education; 
Whereas President Barack Obama and Secretary of Edu-
cation Arne Duncan announced competitive grants 
through the Race to the Top program under sections 
14005 and 14006 of the American Recovery and Rein-
vestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–5; 123 Stat. 282) 
(referred to in this preamble as the ‘‘Race to the Top 
program’’) in July 2009; 
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•HRES 476 IH 
Whereas, on July 24, 2009, Secretary Duncan stated, ‘‘The 
$4,350,000,000 Race to the Top program that we are 
unveiling today is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the 
Federal Government to create incentives for far-reaching 
improvement in our Nation’s schools.’’; 
Whereas, on July 24, 2009, Secretary Duncan also stated, 
‘‘But I want to be clear that Race to the Top is also a 
reform competition, one where States can increase or de-
crease their odds of winning Federal support.’’; 
Whereas, under the Race to the Top program guidelines, 
States seeking funds were pressed to implement 4 core, 
interconnected reforms, and the first of these reforms 
was to adopt ‘‘internationally benchmarked standards 
and assessments that prepare students for success in col-
lege and the workplace’’; 
Whereas, on July 24, 2009, President Obama outlined the 
connection between common education standards and 
Race to the Top program funds, stating, ‘‘I am issuing 
a challenge to our [N]ation’s governors and school 
boards, principals and teachers, businesses and non-prof-
its, parents and students: if you set and enforce rigorous 
and challenging standards and assessments; if you put 
outstanding teachers at the front of the classroom; if you 
turn around failing schools—your State can win a Race 
to the Top grant that will not only help students 
outcompete workers around the world, but let them fulfill 
their God-given potential.’’; 
Whereas the selection criteria designed by the Department of 
Education for the Race to the Top program provided that 
for a State to have any chance to compete for funding, 
it must commit to adopting a ‘‘common set of K–12 
standards’’; 
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•HRES 476 IH 
Whereas Common Core State Standards establish a single set 
of education standards for kindergarten through grade 
12 in English language arts and mathematics that States 
adopt; 
Whereas Common Core State Standards were, during the ini-
tial application period for the Race to the Top program, 
and remain, as of the date of the adoption of this resolu-
tion, the only common set of kindergarten through grade 
12 standards in the United States; 
Whereas, on July 24, 2009, Secretary Duncan stated, ‘‘To 
speed this process, the Race to the Top program is going 
to set aside $350,000,000 to competitively fund the de-
velopment of rigorous, common State assessments.’’; 
Whereas, since the Race to the Top program’s inception, 
States have been incentivized by Federal money to adopt 
common education standards; 
Whereas States began adopting Common Core State Stand-
ards in 2010; 
Whereas States that adopted Common Core State Standards 
before August 2, 2010, were awarded 40 additional 
points out of 500 points for their Race to the Top pro-
gram applications; 
Whereas 45 States have adopted Common Core State Stand-
ards; 
Whereas 31 States, of the 45 total, adopted Common Core 
State Standards before August 2, 2010; 
Whereas States that have adopted Common Core State 
Standards are given preference in the application process 
for the waivers issued under the authority of section 
9401 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
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•HRES 476 IH 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 7861) that provide flexibility with re-
spect to certain requirements of such Act; 
Whereas States that have adopted Common Core State 
Standards are currently collaborating to develop common 
assessments that will be aligned to the Common Core 
State Standards and replace existing end-of-the-year 
State assessments; 
Whereas these assessments will be available in the 2014– 
2015 school year; 
Whereas 2 consortia of States are developing common assess-
ments: the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for 
College and Careers (PARCC) and the Smarter Balanced 
Assessment Consortium (SBAC); 
Whereas national standards lead to national assessments and 
national assessments lead to a national curriculum; 
Whereas education standards help teachers ensure their stu-
dents have the skills and knowledge they need to be suc-
cessful by providing clear goals for student learning; 
Whereas challenging academic standards are vital to ensuring 
students are college and career ready; 
Whereas blanket education standards should not be a pre-
requisite for Federal funding; 
Whereas States are incentivized to adopt Common Core State 
Standards by the explicit correlation between the adop-
tion of the Common Core State Standards by the State 
and the preference provided to such States through the 
Race to the Top program and the flexibility waivers 
issued under the authority of section 9401 of the Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 7861); 
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•HRES 476 IH 
Whereas the Secretary of Education has created a system of 
grants and waivers that influence, incentivize, and coerce 
State educational agencies, commissions, and boards into 
implementing common elementary and secondary school 
standards and assessments endorsed by the Secretary; 
Whereas when Federal funds are linked to the adoption of 
common education standards, the end result is increased 
Federal control over education and a decreased ability of 
schools to meet the individual needs of the students in 
their schools; 
Whereas the implementation of Common Core State Stand-
ards will eventually impact home school and private 
school students when institutions of higher education are 
pressured to align their admission and readiness stand-
ards with curricula based on the Common Core State 
Standards; 
Whereas the 10th amendment of the Constitution of the 
United States reads, ‘‘The powers not delegated to the 
United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to 
the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to 
the people’’; and 
Whereas, throughout the course of United States history, 
States have maintained the responsibility of education 
based on the 10th amendment because the explicit power 
of educating children was not delegated to the United 
States by the Constitution: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that— 
(1) States and local educational agencies should 
maintain the right and responsibility of determining 
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•HRES 476 IH 
educational curricula, programs of instruction, and 
assessments for elementary and secondary education; 
(2) 
the 
Federal 
Government 
should 
not 
incentivize the adoption of common education stand-
ards or the creation of a national assessment to 
align with such standards; and 
(3) no application process for any Federal grant 
funds, or for waivers issued by the Secretary under 
the authority of section 9401 of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7861), 
that occurs after the date of adoption of this resolu-
tion should award any additional points, or provide 
any preference, for the adoption of the Common 
Core State Standards or any other national common 
education standards. 
Æ 
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