Rick Perry in 2010 gubernatorial press release

On Education: No "Race to the Top" funding; too many strings attached

"Texas is on the right path toward improved education, and we would be foolish and irresponsible to place our children's future in the hands of unelected bureaucrats and special interest groups thousands of miles away in Washington, virtually eliminating parents' participation in their children's education," Gov. Perry said. "If Washington were truly concerned about funding education with solutions that match local challenges, they would make the money available to states with no strings attached."

Through Race to the Top funding, the US Department of Education seems to be coercing states like Texas to abandon their own locally established curriculum standards in favor of adopting national standards.