The development of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) (see “The Curriculum Reformation“) i.e., national education standards, dates back to the first Bush administration, when Secretary of Education, Lamar Alexander, called for voluntary national standards and testing. After the Clinton administration’s attempt failed in the mid-1990s, efforts to implement national standards lay dormant until the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation decided to make them a top priority. Beginning in 2007, the foundation funded the development of national English and math standards. It also supported organizations like Achieve, the National Governors Association (NGA), (basically a Rockefeller Association), the Council of Chief...