Issue Position: High Standards with Local Control

Issue Position

Perhaps the greatest failure of the last two presidential administrations has been their overzealous efforts to control states' education systems from the federal level. I have been an outspoken voice in support of 10th amendment guarantees to ensure that Washington State citizens are in control of Washington State's education system. And that locally elected school boards and local communities remain in charge of local schools. Congress has every right to demand high standards across the states, but to remain constitutionally sound and to further innovate our excellent schools, states need to control all of the means by which student achievement occurs. States should control their own curriculum policies, course options, graduation requirements, student assessment systems, and teacher evaluation systems. The federal government should set high expectations but the states need to control the path to success. I will join chief state school officers from around the country to be an active voice at the national level for minimal federal intrusion into our schools.

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