On July 24, 2009 President Barack Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced $4.35 billion program that was designed to spur reforms in state and local district K-12 program. The program is known as Race to the Top. One of the stated goals of the program is to help students out compete workers around the world. Race to the Top prompted 48 states to adopt common standards for K-12. One of the states that did not apply is Texas.
In explaining why Texas would not be applying for Race to the top funding, Governor Rick Perry stated, "we would be foolish and irresponsible to place our children’s future in the hands of unelected bureaucrats and special interest groups thousands of miles away in Washington." I do not know who is foolish and irresponsible, but I think common standards for every state is not a bad idea. Race to the top may have several strings attached to it, but I am only focusing in one goal “common standards for K-12”.
In a 21st century world, we have to prepare students to succeed in school, in college, in workplace and to compete in the global economy. Once the K-12 is complete, a student from Texas has to compete with a student from Idaho, New York, California, and Florida etc. Similarly a student from USA has to compete with a student from England, China, and India etc. If eventually students have to compete with students from other states, why not have a common standard. As for a competition with students from other countries, USA itself has to implement high standards for K-12.
Education is not something that should vary state by state. What is good for students of USA cannot be bad for students of Texas. If 48 other states and their educational board have agreed to common standards in education, then it cannot be as bad as what Governor Rick Perry thinks it to be. It is possible that 1 head may be smarter than 48 other heads working together, but still probability is 48 heads working together will win most of the time.
Some arguments that I found against common standards are:· “Texas would have to spend an estimated $3 billion – $2 billion to purchase new textbooks and $1 billion to redesign our state tests”.
· “Education is a state issue, with power in Texas delegated to the Texas Legislature and the State Board of Education”.
· “Washington, D.C. wants more control over schools”.
Some facts that I found in Texas Where We Stand: Education says:- Texas is #49 in verbal SAT scores in the nation (493) and #46 in average math SAT scores (502).
· Texas is #36 in the nation in high school graduation rates (68%).
Given these arguments and facts, I see that common standards for K-12 will do more good than harm to Texans in long term.Reference:
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