machel was another one richet not use poverty as an excuse. they would say any child can learn are you saying they are incapable of learning? absolutely not. i say the opposite that they are fully capable of serving. but the obstacles that they face that we as adults have the obligation to take those obstacles away so the children can flourish. so when the testing regime came in. i am not opposed to testing i went to parochial school. you would have midterm exams, final exams in the test the longfellow way and degraded. almost everyone who went to school is used to the idea to take a test. but we have gone crazy. that we are testing three and four year-old son. even before preschool. and the obsession where they are so much at stake with the teachers and principals feel their careers are at stake then the results are the be all and end all and it drives everything so of the teachers teach to the test we just want to get the test scores up what you should want to do is of broad well-rounded education to those youngsters in in your charge. that