The point of view of a state superintendent of schools on the subject of federal and state cooperation in developing school curriculum is presented. The following major issues are discussed: (1) educational scholars working cooperatively with school practitioners produce practical and workable curriculum; (2) states have the primary responsibility for educational goalsetting, finance, supervision, and implementation; (3) federal stimulation of innovation generally and vocational education in particular works effectively when most of the funds are contracted by states according to carefully designed plans; (4) single option curricula or single models fail to provide the range of alternatives needed in different states and school districts; (5) labs and centers succeed only to the extent they work closely with states and local consumers; (6) the federal government should stimulate efforts to define education in other than school settings; (7) curriculum research should focus on difficult problems of learning and teaching of other than normal clientele, e.g., handicapped, low-income, and ethnic groups; (8) many different agencies should compete for the right to develop new curricula; and (9) federal government should not develop or determine curriculum but should contract the development and evaluation to others, leaving most implementation work to states, regional networks, and local schools. (JD)