The Anchorage School Board last week voted to adopt national standards, which Superintendent Carol Comeau and board president Gretchen Guess have said will strengthen what's taught to Anchorage students.

The Common Core State Standards are not a federal mandate, but grew out of an initiative backed by state school leaders and the National Governors Association. They lay out expectations of academic skills at each grade level. Forty-five states, not including Alaska, have adopted them.

The national standards are more rigorous than existing Alaska standards, Comeau said in announcing her support for them earlier this month.

The next step for the district is to re-align its curriculum to match the new standards.