This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语教育报道。
What American students are expected to learn has long been different from state to state. We talked last time about the tradition of local control of schools. To some people, the lack of national academic standards is an important limit on federal powers. But others say all it does is limit American competitiveness in a world that is becoming more educated.
长期以来美国各州学生将要学习的内容都各有不同。上次我们谈到了美国各州自主控制教育的传统。对一些人来说，缺少全国性的学术标准是对联邦权力的一项重要限制。
Now, state governors and chief school officers are leading a movement toward what are known as the "common core state standards." These list content in math and English language arts that students are expected to learn each year from kindergarten to high school.
当前，各州州长和学校主管领导正掀起一场所谓的《共同核心州立标准》运动。该标准列明了学生从幼儿园到高中，在数学和英语语言艺术方面将要学习到的内容。
In the past year, most of the fifty states have adopted these standards. That speed is partly explained by President Obama's Race to the Top competition. Accepting the standards helped states that competed last year for federal money for school reform efforts.
在过去的一年里，美国50个州中大部分都采纳了这一标准。采纳速度之快的部分原因是由于奥巴马总统的“争上游”竞赛。接受这一标准将有助于各州争取到联邦资金进行学校改革。
Patrick Murray has been an elected member of the school governing board in Bradford, Maine, for four years. The public school system is small, just one thousand two hundred students from five towns. In April, Maine became the forty-second state to approve the common core standards.
帕特里克·穆雷（Patrick Murray）四年来一直担任缅因州布拉德福德县学校管理委员会委员。这个公立学校系统非常小，只有来自5个镇的1200名学生。今年4月，缅因州成为接受《共同核心州立标准》的第42个州。
Mr. Murray says he does not trust supporters of these standards. "They say this is a state-led effort," he says, but he thinks the goal is national control of education.
穆雷表示，他并不信任这些标准的支持者。“他们说这是由各州主导的努力。”但穆雷认为这一标准的目标是教育的联邦控制。
PATRICK MURRAY: "Any school that receives federal or state money is going to be required to use the common core standards."
穆雷：“任何接受联邦或州政府资金的学校都将被要求使用《共同核心州立标准》。”
He says many states have adopted the common core standards only because they were offered federal money.
他表示，很多州采纳《共同核心州立标准》仅仅是因为他们接受了联邦资金。
PATRICK MURRAY: "My opinion is when you have federal mandates and federal money involved, it's no longer state-led."
穆雷：“我的观点是，一旦有联邦命令或资金介入，教育就不再是各州主导。”
Mr. Murray says national academic standards would violate the United States Constitution. He believes the federal government should have no role in education -- none.
穆雷表示，全国性学术标准违反美国宪法。他认为联邦政府不应该介入教育。
Patience Blythe disagrees. Ms. Blythe has taught for five years. She recently moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Before that she was a science teacher in Texas -- one of the few states not to adopt the common core standards.
佩欣斯·布莱斯（Patience Blythe）不赞同这一观点。布莱斯已从教五年。她最近搬到了宾夕法尼亚州费城。此前她在德州担任科学教师，德州是没有采纳《共同核心州立标准》的少数几个州之一。
Ms. Blythe says national standards could improve the results of American students on international science tests.
布莱斯称，全国性学术标准能够提高美国学生在国际科学竞赛中的成绩。
PATIENCE BLYTHE: "Not everything has to be a state issue. There could be a benefit from some more federal involvement in our education system, that we could address a lot of the inequalities that we have."
布莱斯：“并不是所有问题都应该由各州主导。联邦政府更多地参与到教育中是有帮助的，这样我们可以解决很多各州教育不均衡的问题。”
She also disagrees with those who say the standards could limit the ability of teachers to be creative.
她还不赞成有些人提到的该标准可能会限制教师创新的能力。
PATIENCE BLYTHE: "The reality is the standards give you keys and tools to understand what the objectives are, and understand what the questions on whatever state assessment you're going to take are going to cover. I can be as creative as I want to, especially if I have a good team of teachers to work with, and that we can work together and bounce ideas off each other."
布莱斯：“事实是，该标准为你提供理解教学目标的钥匙和工具，以及理解各州评估中你将面临到的问题。我可以自主创新，特别是如果我有一个非常好的教师团队一起工作，我们可以共同努力，互相听取意见。