High Standards for All

Are national standards needed?  They're not a bad idea.  From a testing and college admissions perspective, it is helpful to have a set of ideas that cross school districts - from California to Massachusetts and everywhere between.  Students can be expected to have access to the same kinds of information in various content areas, and they can be more easily compared.  On an individual level, families need to know that their children's education is comparable to others' across the country.  Even if they move to another school district (hopefully for a job opportunity - but let's not count our chickens), their third grade student should advance to the fourth grade based on the skill and knowledge sets that were acquired at their old school.

Without some form of common standards, a third grade student in Wyoming will be learning things that do not translate into the fourth grade curriculum in Tennessee. Though we have 50 states (and DC) with Constitutional control over their own curriculum, we are one country - one nation, under God, indivisible. Let's make common core standards for every school in the country but let each state, each district, and each teacher decide how best to work these standards into their own classrooms.  Standards and classroom freedom are not mutually exclusive.

What is the problem with standards? 

It's hard to argue against setting high standards for students - in any (all) subject areas.  No parent, teacher, or educational expert would advocate for lowering expectations for children.  So where did the Common Core standards, and other standards movements like this, go wrong?

Currently chewing on (Food for thought):
Is the goal of our education system a homogenous group of young adults with similar content knowledge and skills?  Or do we want differences based on geographic location and income level?