No, that does not mean school boards are no longer in charge of education. Yeah, it might make their lives harder, but some of those standards are a good thing. And I thought you only had a problem with federal standards.

No, I'm not happy with the divergence in results - and the corresponding inequality of opportunity - but it's important to understand the problem. Even with those federal and state standards, those teachers' unions, those school boards, and all that jazz, most American schools finish at the top of the rankings. That means the problem is fundamentally different from what you are complaining about. Perhaps our education would eventually fix itself if we could address poverty.