I’ve written plenty about Colorado’s ongoing quest for Race to the Top federal education grant money. I’ve noted both the promise and the peril within this pursuit. But one issue I have yet to highlight is the Race to the Top requirement that states sign on to the Common Core Standards.

In a new iVoices podcast, Colorado State Board of Education member Peggy Littleton explains how the pull of federal money threatens to lead us down a path towards national testing and curriculum, undermining local control and in some cases watering down the quality of standards. Follow this link or click the play button below to listen:

I’m certainly not the first (or even close to the smartest, best-informed), and won’t be the last, to chime in on this subject. So to help get you up to speed, I’ve posted a few pertinent links below:

• New York Times, “Panel Proposes Single Standard for All Schools” (March 10)
• Jay Greene, “National Standards Nonsense”
• Rick Hess, “Common Standards: Questions about the Road Ahead”
• School Reform News, “States Resist Obama Plan for Tying Federal Money to National Standards” (March 25)
• Fordham Institute, Review of the Draft K-12 Common Core Standards
• Pioneer Institute, The Emperor’s New Clothes: National Assessments Based on Weak “College and Career Readiness Standards”