[ti:National Standards for US Schools Gain Support ] [ar:Bob Doughty] [al:Education Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English [00:02.93]Education Report. [00:04.67]Americans have never [00:07.16]had national education standards. [00:09.90]Goals for what public schools [00:12.54]should teach are set [00:14.08]by state and local school boards. [00:16.92]Their members are often elected. [00:19.90]But some Americans say [00:22.69]the lack of national standards [00:25.18]is wrong in a competitive [00:27.68]global economy. [00:29.07]Former president Bill Clinton said [00:32.50]it was as if somehow school boards [00:35.99]"could legislate differences [00:37.65]in algebra or math or reading." [00:40.78]President George W. Bush [00:43.68]and Congress expanded [00:45.72]federal intervention. [00:47.37]His education law, still in effect, [00:51.50]required states to show [00:54.14]yearly progress in student learning [00:57.13]as measured by the states' own tests. [01:00.86]Now, the Obama administration supports [01:05.09]what are known as the Common [01:07.43]Core State Standards. [01:09.72]These were developed [01:11.86]in a year-long process led [01:14.70]by state governors [01:16.39]and chief state school officers. [01:19.02]Texas and Alaska were the [01:22.76]only states not to take part. [01:25.30]The standards are [01:27.39]in two subject areas, [01:29.37]English-language arts [01:31.66]and mathematics. [01:33.40]They establish goals for each year [01:36.68]from kindergarten through grade twelve. [01:40.57]The aim is for students [01:43.21]to finish high school fully [01:45.65]prepared for college and careers. [01:48.54]The developers considered standards [01:51.78]in other countries, along with [01:54.27]almost one hundred thousand [01:56.30]public comments. [01:58.29]One way the Education Department [02:01.63]is trying to persuade states [02:04.11]is with money. [02:05.75]States are competing to share [02:08.64]in almost three [02:10.49]and a half billion dollars [02:12.72]as part of a school reform competition. [02:16.16]They will earn extra points [02:18.94]in the Race to the Top [02:20.78]if they approve the standards [02:23.33]by August second. [02:25.21]States are trying to recover [02:28.05]from the recession. [02:29.64]There are concerns [02:31.74]that some could accept the standards [02:35.97]and then lack the money to follow them. [02:39.65]The final standards [02:41.71]were released June second. [02:43.07]A new report say about half [02:46.37]the states have approved them already. [02:49.36]The Thomas B. Fordham Institute [02:52.96]is an education group in Washington. [02:56.08]It says the standards are clearer [02:59.68]and stronger than those used [03:02.17]in three-fourths of the states. [03:04.16]But the comparison also found [03:07.89]that existing English standards [03:10.75]are "clearly stronger" in California, [03:13.74] Indiana and the District of Columbia. [03:17.60]States that approve the new standards [03:20.65]have a right to add up [03:23.13]to fifteen percent of their own. [03:25.25]In California, the State Board [03:29.29]of Education plans to vote [03:31.47]on August second to accept [03:33.96]or reject a new set of standards. [03:37.94]These are based largely [03:40.43]on the common core, but also [03:42.98]existing California standards. [03:45.59]And that's the VOA Special English [03:49.88]Education Report, [03:51.44]written by Avi Arditti. [03:54.05]I'm Bob Doughty.