U.S. education secretary Arne Duncan says critics of Common Core standards 'are lying' about federal role | OregonLive.com

U.S. education secretary Arne Duncan says critics of Common Core standards 'are lying' about federal role | OregonLive.com:

U.S. education secretary Arne Duncan says critics of Common Core standards 'are lying' about federal role

View full sizeU.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, shown during a 2011 meeting with Oregon teachers at H.B. Lee Middle School in Portland, is adamant that the federal government did not write or mandate Common Core standards.Jamie Francis / The Oregonian / 2011

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan emphatically called on education reporters today to truth-squad critics' claims that the federal government is staging a takeover of education by pushing Common Core State Standards, adopted by Oregon and 44 other states.

Such claims are "just not intellectually honest. For journalists, the truth should matter," he said. Speaking of the Common Core standards, Duncan said, "Anyone who says we developed them or mandated them, they are lying."

In a session arranged by the Education Writers Association, Duncan spoke briefly to education reporters from around the country, then answered more than a dozen questions on topics ranging from intercollegiate athletics to preschool to mental health.

Common Core standards are a big deal in education these days, as Sunday's front-page article in The Oregonian made clear. Their creation was driven by governors and state schools chiefs from most states, supported by many major corporations and foundations.
Duncan helped propel states to adopt them by using federal leverage to get states to