Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Russ on Reading: An Anthem for the Opt Out Movement?

Russ on Reading: An Anthem for the Opt Out Movement?:



An Anthem for the Opt Out Movement?







Back in the sixties when I was in my folk music stage, a song by singer Ed McCurdy was making the rounds of the coffee houses. The song was calledLast Night I Had the Strangest Dream and it was a powerful anti-war anthem later recorded by Simon and Gafunkel, Pete Seeger, Johnny Cash and many others. If you want to hear it you can find it here.

For some reason, I could not get the song out of my head as I sat in a plane on the tarmack of Austin-Bergstrom Airport waiting to be de-iced (scary thought) for my flight home to Philly. The tune is very memorable and I thought it might be a good basis for a rallying cry for the anti-testing OPT OUT movement. Anyway, just for fun, here it is.

Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream (with apologies to Ed MCCurdy)


Last night I had the strangest dream,
The kind Bill Gates detests.
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To throw out standardized tests.

I dreamed I saw my old classroom
And the room was filled with joy.
Because the focus was