National standards.

The appeal of national standards for K-12 public education is understandable ("National Standards," forum, Fall 2006). The notion of a set of academic aspirations for all America's children is neat and clean and simple. And it provides an antidote to the confusing and often confused landscape of academic standards and assessments assembled by the states. Given the global competitiveness America must maintain, national standards seem commonsensical. We are a nation after all, and a nation should coalesce around a shared sense of what its students need to know in order to compete and succeed in the 21st century.

But beneath the veneer of the appeal there are problems, and perhaps even threats. It is fair to ask if national standards and assessments might start us down the road to a national K-12 system of public education, effectively turning on its head a system defined today by state and local policymakers and resources.

There may be something to be said for such a scenario. If the current system were getting the job done, this discussion probably would not be taking place. But nationalizing public education will surely widen the already troubling gulf between the American people and their public schools.

Most people view public education through the prism of their own experiences. National standards might reinforce the notion that all that matters is "how well my child and his school are doing" and make it even more difficult to get Americans to ask an equally, if not more, important question: "How well is my nation doing?" Rather than seeking a national remedy for the problems that afflict the system, we should seek to refresh and restore the public's relationship with its schools.

GENE HICKOK

Senior Policy Director

Dutko Worldwide and former U.S. deputy secretary of education