Risk In This Race

Yes, it is good that Massachusetts’ top education officials expressed reservations about the quality of national curriculum standards being developed by a federally backed consortium (“Education’s core,” Jan. 31). However, that didn’t stop them from applying for the Obama administration’s Race to the Top fund even though being on board with the Common Core Standards is a precondition. (By the way, the final grade-by-grade standards haven’t even been disclosed yet.)

Does Massachusetts really want to scrap its standards - generally rated the best among the 50 states - in exchange for a product that will be anything but tamper-proof?

- Robert Holland,

Senior Fellow/Education Policy

The Heartland Institute, Chicago