Standardizing Mediocrity; Why national standards won’t fix American education.

NRO  "Some states do have higher standards than others. But the same pressures that drive down state standards would likely plague national standards — and if national standards were defined down, they would undercut states with higher standards, such as Massachusetts. This would let the goal of uniformity trump the pursuit of excellence." ....
"National standards wouldn’t improve academic achievement. They would merely strengthen federal control over education." via Heritage