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.

Project NOW, Inc., Community Action Agency announces open enrollment for the 2013-14 year of the Head Start program. Applications are being taken for families with children aged 3-5 years old. Head Start is a federally funded comprehensive preschool and family support program provided at no charge to low income families.

Project NOW Head Start serves families in Upper Rock Island, Henry and Mercer Counties. Eligible families are those that qualify by income at the poverty level or have children with disabilities. The program offers both a center-based and home-based option with extended day childcare available through a partnership in Rock Island County. Head Start helps the child's ability to think, reason, speak, get along with others and prepare for success in Kindergarten. At the same time, the Head Start program works with families to help themselves.

"Every year, Project NOW sees a very positive impact in this community, because of the Head Start program!" comments Leigh Egger, Head Start director of Project NOW. "Head Start's strength is that parents are fully engaged in the process of getting children ready for school, while the families succeed in goals that change their lives. This is the purpose of a community action agency."

Parents are asked to provide the following at the time of the application meeting: child's birth certificate, income verification, current medical card, social security cards for all members of the family, up-to-date immunization records for the child, as well as current physical and dental examination records or appointment dates for these exams.

Head Start classes begin in the end of August. Since classes must be full by orientation time in July, enrollment will be closed as soon as enough eligible families have applied. Therefore, it is very important that any family with a very low income contact Project NOW as soon as possible to make an application.

For more information or to schedule an appointment for an application, please call 309-792-4555 in Rock Island County; 309-852-4346 in Henry County; 309-582-3668 in Mercer County.

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Project NOW Community Action Agency provides a wide range of social services in Rock Island, Henry and Mercer Counties. Programs include Head Start, Outreach, Housing, Utility Assistance, Homeless Services, Apartment and Commercial Property Rentals, Senior Services, Weatherization, Good Things NOW Clothing Stores, Business Start-Up Assistance and Revolving Loan Funds. Services are designed to help families with low income and senior citizens meet basic needs and achieve self sufficiency. Project NOW was incorporated on May 15, 1968 and has been working to help low-income individuals improve their lives ever since.

BATON ROUGE, LA (04/17/2013)(readMedia)-- The following local students recently were initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.

The following 17 students were granted an achievement for being inducted into Phi Kappa Phi at The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi:

Michael Bales, Jr. of Clinton (52732)

Vicki Crosthwaite of Bettendorf (52722)

Mackenzie Gray of Blue Grass (52726)

Clint Heitz of Davenport (52806)

Myra Eystad of Davenport (52807)

Kathy Sidlinger of Le Claire (52753)

Wendy Orman of LeClaire (52753)

Kacy Kelly of Coal Valley (61240)

Leah Quintana of East Moline (61244)

Anne Hayes of East Moline (61244)

Kayla Ulfig of Milan (61264)

Christian Myers of Moline (61265)

Valerie Hays of Moline (61265)

Laura Vandermyde of Morrison (61270)

Andrey Mojica of Rock Island (61201)

Luke Circello of Rock Island (61201)

Onnica Marquez of Sterling (61081)

Founded in 1897, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Phi Kappa Phi inducts annually approximately 32,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni. The Society has chapters on more than 300 select colleges and universities in North America and the Philippines. Membership is by invitation only to the top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students and 7.5 percent of juniors. Faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction also qualify. The Society's mission is "To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others." For more information, visit www.PhiKappaPhi.org.

BATON ROUGE, LA (04/17/2013)(readMedia)-- The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi is pleased to announce that Joseph Rives of Moline, Ill., was recently initiated into Phi Kappa Phi--the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines--at Western Illinois University.

Rives is among approximately 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Membership is by invitation and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Only the top 10 percent of seniors and 7.5 percent of juniors, having at least 72 semester hours, are eligible for membership. Graduate students in the top 10 percent of the number of candidates for graduate degrees may also qualify, as do faculty, professional staff, and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction.

Founded in 1897 at the University of Maine and headquartered in Baton Rouge, La., Phi Kappa Phi is the nation's oldest and most selective all-discipline honor society. The Society has chapters on more than 300 college and university campuses in North America and the Philippines. Its mission is "To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others."

More About Phi Kappa Phi

Since its founding, more than 1 million members have been initiated. Some of the organization's more notable members include former President Jimmy Carter, NASA astronaut Wendy Lawrence, novelist David Baldacci and YouTube cofounder Chad Hurley. The Society has awarded approximately $15 million since the inception of its awards program in 1932. Today, $1 million is awarded each biennium to qualifying students and members through graduate fellowships, undergraduate study abroad scholarships, member and chapter awards and grants for local and national literacy initiatives.