National Review - They're All Federal Educators Now

Excerpt: "For one thing, the compromise demanded by democratic politics will always require that the nation’s numerous ethnic, religious, pedagogical, and other groups be accommodated in the creation of standards. This is perhaps as it should be, but it inevitably pushes standards to lowest-common-denominator levels."

Cato Institute - Strange New Love for BThe Blob"

Excerpt: "The very idea that government standards are the key to educational improvement runs counter to the conservative principles of individual liberty and the superiority of voluntary market action over coercive central planning. Conservatives often tout the merits of free markets, but their uniform standards and tests would further homogenize American education, precluding the specialization and division of labor upon which markets depend."