The standards themselves are insubstantial and weren't developed by education experts. They were developed by lobbyists. Local boards know what's better for kids than lobbyists. Giving power to local boards allows more accountability for parents, who are really the ones that matter with education. The only interstate agreement that should be with education is what NOT to teach, such as the Bible in public school.
That's entirely false. The standards were developed by panels of educators in each of about 40 states in 2008-2009, then collated to find the common elements. I know because I served on one such panel (Math) in a state that was already using statewide standards for public schools.
The standards as released were free to be used by the states to the extent they wished and were not mandated. The feds through Race to the Top required adoption of the standards if they wished to maximize their point score to get a grant. This occurred during the recession and many states wanted the federal funds so they adopted the standards.
Then why were only 2 education experts brought on board to develop them, and are now speaking out against them.
