The plan for national education standards has been thrust upon the country with uncommon speed. Here are some questions to ask proponents of National Standards:

• Why was this effort which will affect all Americans conducted in secret?
• Who are the “secret experts” who are writing the standards?
• Who picked the “secret experts”?
• If the graduation standards will be released in July, obviously people were working on them for quite some time. Who initiated this project, and with what authority?
• Why have the CSSOs and the governors engaged in what is essentially a coup d’etat regarding the creation of national standards rather than engaging in an open and democratic process and trying to convince people that national standards are a good thing?