“There is no argument that education is crucial to competing in the global economy. The argument is about how best to educate our kids, and how to make sure U.S. students are keeping up. The United States has experimented endlessly on the how. In 2001, former President George W. Bush proposed and Congress enacted “No Child Left Behind.” NCLB required each state to set their own educational standards, and then test aggressively to make sure their students were making the grade. While not directly involved, the federal government did require that any school getting federal funds give students an annual test to chart their progress. NCLB came under withering criticism and President Barack Obama introduced “Common Core,” standards which required schools receiving federal funding to agree to a set of national standards that all students, regardless of their state, are subject to. It’s not a federal program, but schools that take federal money must agree to the benchmarks and test students on their basic mastery of specific subjects, such as mathematics.