Let me admit upfront that I don't know Texas Education Agency Commissioner Robert Scott hardly at all; I think I've been in the same room with him once or twice. But his reputation is as a thoughtful policy wonk and adept administrator-a "good government," non-ideological type. Little did I know that a hard-edged "states rights" conservative boiled within him. But check out this letter he sent to Texas's Congressional delegation (as reported by the Austin-American Statesman today):
November 25, 2009Dear Senator Cornyn:
I am writing to express my deep concerns regarding recent efforts by the??U. S.??Department of Education (USDE) to adopt a national curriculum and testing system in the??United States. This effort can be seen as a step toward a federal takeover of the nation's public schools.
As you are likely aware, a number of entities that develop and market education assessments and materials and several non-profits have banded together in an effort they have named the "Common Core Standards Initiative." I believe that the true intention of this effort is to establish one set of national education standards and national tests across the country. Originally sold to states as voluntary, states have now been told that participation in national standards and national testing would be required as a condition of receiving federal discretionary grant funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) administered by the USDE. The effort has now become a cornerstone of the Administration's education policy through the USDE's prioritization of adoption of national standards and aligned national tests in receiving federal funds. The Secretary of Education has already reserved $650 million of ARRA funds for the production of these national tests.
In short, because??Texas??has chosen to preserve its sovereign authority to determine what is appropriate for??Texas??children to learn in its public schools, the state is now placed at a serious disadvantage in competing for its share of ARRA discretionary funding. Billed by Secretary Duncan as the "Race to the Top," (RTTT) it appears that the USDE is placing its desire for a federal takeover of public education above the interests of the 4.7 million schoolchildren in the state of Texas by setting two different starting lines - one for nearly every other state in the country and one for Texas.
Texas??has consistently maintained that states should retain their authority to determine the curriculum and testing requirements for their students. The elected??Texas??State??Board of Education (SBOE) sets the standards??Texas??students are supposed to meet for each subject taught in the public school system. Texas law requires the direct participation of educators, parents, business and industry representatives, and employers in the development of the standards. Through this process,??Texas??has recently adopted college-ready math, English language arts, and science standards and will soon complete work on the social studies standards. The state has purchased new textbooks, created targeted professional development for our teachers, and developed new assessments aligned with these new standards. Joining the national standards and national testing movement would require??Texas??taxpayers to re-spend at least $3 billion.
If the USDE has its way,??Texas' process, along with every other state that has a similar process, will be negated. With the release of the RTTT application, it is clear that the first step toward nationalization of our schools has been put into place. I do not believe that the requirements will end with the RTTT; I believe that USDE will utilize the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to further the administration's federal takeover of public schools, including withholding billions of dollars from our disadvantaged and special education students.
Ronald Reagan once said, "I believe a case can be made that the decline in the quality of public school education began when federal aid to education became federal interference in education." Having the federal government use Washington-based special interest groups and vendors as proxy for the USDE in setting national curriculum standards and then using ARRA federal discretionary funds to develop national tests for every child in the nation represents unprecedented intrusiveness by the federal government into the personal lives of our children and their families.
I encourage and invite you to stand with me against national curriculum standards and national tests. The authority to determine what students in our public schools should learn properly resides with states, local school boards and parents. The federal government should not be engaging in activity that seeks to undermine our ability to determine what will be taught in our schools.
Sincerely,
Robert Scott
Texas??Commissioner of Education
Wow, that's fire-breathing stuff. The "nationalization" of our schools. Texas's "sovereignty." A "federal takeover." Even a quote from Ronald Reagan!
Of course, there are politics at work here. As the Statesman reports, Scott's boss, Texas Governor Rick Perry, is locked in a bitter primary battle against U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson; Perry's strategy is to peg his opponent as a "Washington Insider." So the issue of a "federal takeover" of Texas's schools must be seen as the perfect wedge issue to rally Lone State conservatives to his cause.
Not that Scott doesn't have some valid points. Texas has just updated its standards and is investing big bucks in getting them to the classroom. We don't know yet if the Common Core standards will be any good. And as I told the Statesman, Texas would have a pretty good shot at winning Race to the Top dollars were it not for the points it will lose because it's not playing ball with the national standards effort.
Still,??were it not for the politics, Scott would simply do what every other state chief has done: sign a letter promising to "participate" in the Common Core effort, all the while knowing that the state could always back out later. So when Texas doesn't get its piece of the RttT pie, blame the timing of Texas's governor's race, not the Common Core effort itself.
-Mike Petrilli
