Local control is what’s getting us Blue States with a large electoral population. Local control is almost universally Democratic control because CONSERVATIVES REFUSE TO BECOME TEACHERS. A Republic, if you can keep it... remember that remark? Well, you can’t keep it if you leave the hand that rocks the cradle to the left, and that is exactly what conservatives have been doing.
Another issue that doesn’t get discussed much is that the purse strings of the Federal government force states to submit to government diktat on a large number of issues, often unrelated to the source of the funds.
The Federal Highway Funds.
This is a huge amount of money that is disbursed to states, and to qualify, there are hundreds (if not thousands) of policies that states have to adopt to get a chunk of that pie.
I have heard that there are many issues, unrelated to highway maintenance and construction, that states are forced to kowtow to or be denied portions of that funding.
It is a rather large cudgel wielded by the federal government to de-emphasize various aspects of state independence, and adherence to various educational “suggestions” are just one example.
Sure, as a state, you can ignore it. At your financial peril.
“CONSERVATIVES REFUSE TO BECOME TEACHERS”
Could there be some selection in the colleges that train teachers? Like “conservatives never get good grades”?
When I was in school, the only way I’d get an A from my English profs was to couch everything in Marxist terms. If I didn’t, C- or D. Once I figured that out I aced every class.