Education has never been a strong suite for Alabama. Somehow there is still a dark ignorance in our state which poo poos education. When the fear mongers spread the word that Uncle Sam is connected to any program, especially education it its death warrant is signed.(even at the expense of our citizens, young and old). So what if other states reciprocate and allow students to transfer interstate without loss of credits. So what if a core curriculum is standardized so an Alabama student is accepted as an equal to a New York student and can compete on a level playing field. Students' interests take a back seat to the image of our state as anti government. It's the principal that matters! Any Alabama second grade drop out knows that a plan our legislature comes up with is going to be inferior to the Core Curriculum which has been developed by top educators from all over the country. But our learnned legislators, some obviously products of our own system, jump in to offer a better plan? I don't think so. Don't be surprised if they also come up with new math for rocket scientists and a new method of brain surgery because they will if the right wingers relate rocket science and the field of medicine to Uncle Sam!

Of course it is federal. The "Race to the Top" grants force states to adopt Common Core. These standards are created for the purpose of given Washington DC bureaucrats and politicians control over the schools, which is NOT a duty given to the federal government. What's more, they are poor goals, written with almost no input from educators, parents, or other stakeholders.