Hunt: Let states lead the way

Former N.C. Gov. Jim Hunt told Congress today that schools across the country have to develop similar standards for education subjects such as algebra, science and reading.

But Hunt doesn't want the federal government to do the job unless all else fails. Instead, he is pushing a states-run effort to develop standards, Barb Barrett reports.

"The standards are all over the place," Hunt testified this morning to a House education committee. "We need to have a set of common standards for the country for all of our schools. … They need to be fewer, clearer and higher."

The National Governors Association and several education groups are working to develop higher standards for high school graduates.

Hunt, who led North Carolina for 16 years, is now chairman of the James B. Hunt Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy at UNC-Chapel Hill.

More after the jump.

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He said today the issue goes beyond education for most governors.

"The good ones figure out pretty quickly that if they're going to have good jobs, they've got to have a highly trained and educated workforce," Hunt testified. "What we’re talking about today is not just education. It's the economy. It's jobs."

Hunt said that if states cannot work out agreements about what the core high school standards should be, than only then should the federal government step in.

"If we can't get it done as a state-led effort, I think we’re going to have to do it as an American government effort,” Hunt said.