Common Core ties to federal funding pop up in California, Indiana

According to Idaho’s top public education official, the Gem State would face no cuts in federal funding should it choose to end its participation in the nationwide Common Core academic standards agenda.

However, in states where policymakers have either abandoned or augmented their participation with the national standards agenda, the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) has used a federal law from last decade—the “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB) Act—to threaten those states over the appropriation of millions of federal education dollars.

“We did not receive federal dollars from Washington when we adopted the Common Core standards,” said Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna. In an exclusive interview with IdahoReporter.com in February of this year , Luna added that “we would not lose federal funding if we chose other standards.”

Yet in both California and Indiana, the USDOE has leveled threats in the face of those states altering their intended paths with Common Core. Last year when California considered the possibility of suspending student testing for a year (Common Core entails annual assessment testing), the USDOE reacted by threatening to withhold some $15 million in administrative funding from the state. More here . IdahoReporter

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