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Three days ago, Valerie Strauss' Answer Sheet blog in the Washington Post published the hardest-hitting critique of testing of the year. Before discussing that, I want to take a moment to recognize her work. Ms. Strauss is the ONLY blogger in the mainstream media to consistently address education issues from a perspective that is critical of the test-crazy status quo. Every day she brings us insightful perspectives, research and reports from the field. Her column includes her own excellent work as well as that of others (including occasionally myself.) Monday's post, When an adult took standardized tests forced on kids, contributed by education expert Marion Brady, was exceptional. In the past three days, this post has been shared more than 54,000 times on Facebook. At this time, more than 500 people have commented on the post. I get excited when I see a post on my blog being shared widely, but this is in a whole new realm.

Monday's post, "Dealing with disingenuous teachers unions: There are no shortcuts," sparked a wave of discussion and criticism-which, let's face it, is every writer's hope. But I wasn't just trying to be provocative; we at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute strongly believe that issues of governance and politics have been too often ignored in the education reform debate. We're happy to help put these issues at the top of the policy agenda. In fact, we've teamed up with the Center for American Progress on a three-year project to do exactly that.

With a daughter entering the seventh grade, Noemi Gonsalez dreams of her child's college years. She said her best hope is with a proposed mayoral academy for Providence and Cranston students.

Our family gets a close-up look of how big money has taken over politics -- even at the local level