State power over education is a tricky issue. Historically, local government has exercised control over U.S. schools across the country, including decisions about school standards and classroom learning content.
But in 2001, Congress signed into federal law the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which reinstated a number of federal programs designed to improve school performance by increasing state, school district, and school standards.
The NCLB is controversial for a number of reasons, upsetting both parents and teachers across the country. Many doubt its effectiveness in actually improving school performance.
Actually the NCLB might even lower states' achievement goals by encouraging teachers to teach learning content solely as preparation for standardized tests.
One 2008 study from the Department of Education concluded that the Reading First Program, a major billion dollar a year NCLB initiative, had proven ineffective.
Here are some articles on this issue:
http://k6educators.about.com/cs/professionaldevel/a/standtests.htm
http://www.umanitoba.ca/publications/cjeap/articles/volante.html
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/44978/the_truth_about_teaching_to_standardized.html?cat=4