Friday Throwdown: Feds strongarm Mass. on education standards
Friday, July 23, 2010 -
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ShareRemember what a big deal MCAS was when Ed Reform was passed in 1993? Are you ready to abandon it?
This week’s topic: Feds strongarm Massachusetts on education standards
With a unanimous vote Wednesday, the state education board took a giant step away from the MCAS education curriculum by moving to adopt federal ‘Common Core’ standards.
The Wall Street overhaul and health care reform were the subject of intense debate and bitter partisanship in Washington and locally. But in one fell swoop, the Obama Administration was successful in pushing the majority of the states to adopt a national educational curriculum.
US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan himself characterized federal involvement with state education oversight the “third-rail” of education.
“I’m ecstatic,” Duncan told the New York Times [NYT], “This has been the third