I don't blame teachers for fighting testing and accountability if what it means is that they will become accountable for the parent's failures. How can you teach children who don't do their homework, watch sex-drenched TV shows for 3 or 4 hours or more a night, come to school dressed like punks and whores, and whose disciplinary failings are vociferously defended by their parents as being the fault of anyone but their kid?
I went to the local middle school to drop off a form to register our Scout Troop's use of their facility (our local schools have absolutely no problem allowing the local Cub Scout Pack and Boy Scout Troop to use their building). It was just before the kids come into school. Out front were a few girls. One of them, the leader of the conversation, who could not have been more than 11, was dressed with a shirt that only came down to within a couple of inches of her navel, and a pair of shorts that probably weren't more than 14" long from waist to hem.
I remarked on this to the assistant principal when I dropped off the form; "I can't believe how some parents dress their kids." He agreed, and then made the point that when he took his daughter shopping, he had a hard time finding anything else to buy for her. Of course, the key phrase here is "when he took his daughter shopping", as opposed to "when he gave his daughter some money to go buy some clothes". For some of these parents, God forbid they should put their foot down and refuse to buy their kid a piece of clothing the kid wants.
A great argument for dumping public schools altogether and going to vouchers or home schooling.