June 21, 2010 11:43AM 

# Paranoia Roundup 

By [Neal McCluskey](https://www.cato.org/people/neal-mccluskey) 

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Last week, national standards super-advocate Chester Finn [called me “paranoid” ](http://www.edexcellence.net/flypaper/index.php/2010/06/denial-vs-paranoia-with-common-core-education-standards/)for [arguing](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11901) that “common” curriculum standards states adopt in pursuit of federal money will somehow end up being federal and, as a result, bad. Well it seems that [Jay Greene ](http://jaypgreene.com/2010/06/10/national-standards-taking-names-and-answering-questions/)and I — the two paranoiacs Finn identified by name — are not alone. Here’s a roundup of some recent rantings from other realists Finn would no doubt accuse of wearing tinfoil helmets:

- The Heritage Foundation’s Jennifer Marshall, [cutting through ](http://blog.heritage.org/2010/06/21/morning-bell-time-to-stand-up-to-the-national-standards-agenda/)the joke of “voluntary” national-standards adoption and dispelling several of the shallow arguments trotted out by national-standards supporters.
- The Home School Legal Defense Association, [warning ](http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/201006180.asp)that “as homeschoolers know, if the federal government funds something, the federal government is going to control it.”
- The Pacific Reasearch Institute’s Lance Izumi [nailing ](http://dailycaller.com/2010/06/17/the-real-lesson-in-obama%E2%80%99s-education-policies/)the voluntarism deception; noting that national standards will have to be paired with national tests (indeed, they’re [already in the works](http://www.edweek.org/login.html?source=http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/01/21/19assess_ep.h29.html&destination=http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/01/21/19assess_ep.h29.html&levelId=2100)); and pointing out that the proposed national standards are likely worse than some state standards.
- Ben Boychuk of the Heartland Institute [going after ](http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/537598/201006162350/Mediocre-National-Standards-No-Answer-To-Curriculum-Massacre-Down-In-Texas.aspx)the big voluntarism lie and explaining how much worse a process national-standards setting is than was even the Texas Social Studies Standoff of 2010.
- The Pioneer Institutes Jim Stergios [exposing](http://boston.com/community/blogs/rock_the_schoolhouse/2010/06/ive_stopped_believing_what_sta.html) the State of Massachusetts’ national-standards trickeration.

It looks like national-standards paranoia is starting to run kinda deep.

##### Related Tags 

[Education](https://www.cato.org/education), [General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Center for Educational Freedom](https://www.cato.org/center-educational-freedom) 

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