Bill Pushes ‘Rigorous’ Curricula

U.S. role in high schools seen growing under plan.

A new college-grant program slipped into a pending federal budget bill could ultimately influence course offerings at high schools across the country and has stirred a debate about creeping federal authority over curricula.

The legislation would create a $3.7 billion annual program of grants aimed at students from low-income families who have taken a “rigorous” high school curriculum. The bill would give the U.S. secretary of education the authority to determine which high school curricula fit that definition.

“This has the potential to be one of the greatest sleepers of the year in terms of the impact it could have,” said Bob Wise, the president of the Alliance for Excellent Education, a Washington-based advocacy group that has pushed to improve high schools. “It could be very exciting, or it could...