WASHINGTON - In a video address, Senator Chuck Grassley describes his effort to restore state-level decision-making about academic content in public schools in response to the way federal incentives are pressuring states to adopt Common Core State Standards.
Click here for the audio.
Here is the text of Grassley`s remarks:
I`m leading an effort to ask Senate appropriators to restore state-level decision making about academic content in public schools, in response to the way federal incentives have interfered and put a heavy hand on states to adopt the Common Core State Standards Initiative.
The Common Core program was initially billed as a voluntary effort, and current federal law makes clear that the U.S. Department of Education may not be involved in setting specific content standards or determining the content of state assessments.
The reality is that the U.S. Department of Education has made adoption of standards matching those in Common Core a requirement for getting waivers and funds. It violates the structure of our education system, where academic content decisions are made at the state level giving parents a direct line of accountability to those making the decisions. The federal government should not be allowed to coerce state education decision makers.
I`m inviting senators to join me in a letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee that funds education. My letter urges appropriators to set clear restrictions on the U.S. Department of Education from setting academic content standards either directly or indirectly.
