'The Basics' Is Once Again Rallying Cry in Littleton Election

By Cheryl Gamble

In an election two years ago that drew national attention and split a community, three candidates were elected to the school board in Littleton, Colo., touting a back-to-basics platform.

They promised to overhaul the district's controversial performance-based graduation requirements, and to make broad changes in curriculum, policy, and procedures. Their election marked the defeat of one of the nation's most closely watched school-reform experiments.

As this year's election approaches, the focus for voters is once again a call for "the basics," with a new slate of candidates promising to return to more traditional-style education, and...