I had always advocated testing, but I forgot a principle I learned in regulatory economics, which essentially is this: regulations often have unintended results, bad and good.

In this case, I think we can see what happened.  Teachers, under pressure,  emphasize "learning" that isn't necessarily helpful for the child in the long run.  And, it makes learning less interesting.  I see it in my kids' education.

How to measure school performance?  I dunno.  But it's time at least to suspend the program and rethink.

goal of allowing incumbents to say "we DID something - yay!"  Well, teaching to standardized tests is dumb, "one size fits all" is even dumber, and this program is a failure.  Scrap it.

Great quote in an article in the Politico from the esteemed Chief Deputy Cantor:
"I really try to do what I can to live life in the minority, rather than live life in the majority," Cantor said. "You don't have the obligations of making the trains run."

Full article below:
The GOP's Merry Prankster in the House
By: Patrick O'Connor
March 13, 2007 06:06 PM EST

Reps Eric Cantor, R-Va., and Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., give a news conference in the House Raido and TV Gallery on "Employee Free Choice Act" and why they will vote against it in Washington, D.C. on Wed., Feb. 28, 2007. (John Shinkle) 

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Rep. Eric Cantor passed on the chance for an elected House Republican leadership post when he didn't challenge his political patron, Minority Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri.
That decision, though, has given the Virginian more leeway to pursue the partisan pranks and opposition theatrics that define a minority, allowing him to claim some of the influence other members covet and the freedom to launch the political attacks that GOP leaders were slow to embrace.
Now, Cantor, his star still rising, is a dominant Republican voice in the House, leading a loosely affiliated band of junior members who have become a driving force to regain power in 2008.
For Cantor, no task is too small to embarrass or impede the Democratic majority -- even if it involves a smiling tuna. After all, he was responsible for the small lapel sticker Republicans wore during a House vote to raise the minimum wage that featured a cartoon of a smiling tuna.
As the appointed chief deputy whip, he's also one of the few members with the clout to dial back attacks by the most vocal agitators. Last month, for example, he persuaded a small group of Republicans to forgo their plan to stall the debate over a symbolic measure rejecting President Bush's plan to send additional troops to Iraq.
"You have to be credible," Cantor said.
His band of 15 or so junior Republicans includes outspoken upstarts such as Reps. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina and Tom Price of Georgia, as well as established leaders such as Republican Conference Chairman Adam Putnam of Florida.
While McHenry and Price have made considerable noise on the House floor, others are organizing their opposition more quietly. Rep. John R. Carter (R-Texas), for example, has invited current and former members who served in the previous minority to address the new minority, members said. And Rep. Lynn A. Westmoreland (R-Ga.) is organizing members of the conservative Republican Study Committee to monitor the House floor.
Even some of the old guard are getting involved. Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.), the former chairman of the House Rules Committee, has been tutoring members on floor procedure to help them better shape future attacks, GOP aides said.
Republicans readily acknowledge they must first regain the credibility they lost during their scandal-plagued spiral into the minority, which means presenting voters with fresh faces and ideas.
Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas, chairman of the Republican Study Group, has worked with other members to develop budget principles he hopes will help Republicans re-establish their brand of fiscal responsibility. And Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the ranking Republican on the Budget Committee, is working to coordinate a single budget alternative to the Democrats' spending plan.
Despite the obvious struggles, ambitious lawmakers have a much better chance to rise within a minority because they are not burdened by the seniority restrictions of a majority.

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) gives a news briefing with other House GOP members on their opposition to congress taking constitutional powers from the Commander in Chief and micro managing the war in Iraq (John Shinkle) 

"It got accelerated when we lost the majority," Ryan said of the shift in power from some of the GOP's old bulls to more junior members. "It made room for new people."
There was an early divide between the upstarts and some of the senior leaders. But Republicans are beginning to rally around Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), who himself has grown increasingly combative with Democrats.
"We have a wonderful, open line of communication," Price said of his cooperation with leadership. "There are no roadblocks there."
A major challenge now is for Republicans to present themselves as a credible alternative to the Democratic majority.
An early stunt by the Republicans to reintroduce the minority bill of rights offered during the last Congress by now-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) fell flat. But recent tactics have been more successful. Last week, for instance, the GOP won three votes in three days on obscure procedural motions that most Democrats supported -- a rare feat for the minority party.
Cantor, as chief deputy whip, has a say in the direction of his party. Still, he counts himself among the agitators who have become increasingly annoying to the Democrats.
Blunt often jokes that he was the most popular member of the House when he was chief deputy whip. And Cantor certainly has more freedom than the top two leaders. But his skills and energy allow him to bridge the many factions in his party.
"At the core, he's a policy wonk," said Ryan, one of Cantor's closest friends in the House. "He has a lot of credibility with all parts of the conference."
And Cantor clearly enjoys all the partisan wrangling.
He passed out the stickers with the cartoon tuna to protest an alleged exemption in the minimum-wage bill for Del Monte, the food giant headquartered in Pelosi's hometown of San Francisco. And he offered an amendment to perpetuate the controversy over Pelosi's request for a larger military jet to ferry her coast to coast without refueling.
A prolific fundraiser, Cantor is also the finance chairman for the House Republicans' campaign arm and has already contributed $115,000 to erasing the committee's debt. He's embraced new media to feed the Web frenzy for political videos. And like the rest of his GOP colleagues, he's learning to focus on messaging rather than dealmaking.
"I really try to do what I can to live life in the minority, rather than live life in the majority," Cantor said. "You don't have the obligations of making the trains run."