States ‘Dummied Down’ Standards-- ' Good For Politicians’ Seeking Re-election

When speaking before Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan charged politicians with “dummy-ing down” state education standards under the No Child Left Behind Act to increase their chances of being re-elected.

“Historically in our country, I think particularly under the current law, No Child Left Behind, lots of states dummied down standards,” said Duncan at the National Action Network’s Martin Luther King, Jr. day prayer breakfast on Monday.  “They reduced standards. Why? Wasn’t good for children; wasn’t good for education; wasn’t good for the country -- was good for politicians.”

“It made politicians look good,” he said. “You could dummy down your standards and tell the press and tell the public – if you could tell the public that more students in your state were quote/unquote meeting state standards, that helped you get re-elected. But it did a great disservice to young people.”

In the past, Duncan has criticized states for lowering standards.

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