[WS:]
I think that the root cause of this mess is the local control of education - if you replace it with federal control and funding, a great deal of the current woes would disappear.
This is not the case. Many school districts have lost total control, the poorer ones, the ones that don't ace the standard tests. That gives the feds or state pols who are in the pockets of the curriculum/testing industry the power to take over and make hay.
NCLB and Race to the Top are both federal programs.
Joanna