http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/20 ... education/


Sep 29, 2011 6:00am



Fighting the Feds: 2012 Candidates Want States to Control Education.



It’s back-to-school time, as President Obama reminded the nation in his annual back-to-school speech today. And during election season, no school year begins without stirring up education reform debates.

But this election is all about the economy and will likely revolve around what role the federal government should play in stimulating job growth, not how much it should spend on merit pay or standardized testing.

So when it comes to education policy debates, whether it’s the Democratic incumbent or the array of Republican challengers, all eyes – and talking points – are on two things: the federal government’s role and the overall cost.

“The meta-narrative [for Republican presidential candidates] is obviously pushing back on health care reform and on the stimulus,â€