That's what I meant but I chose my words poorly. I'm all for opt-in/opt-out programs at the state level like the NYS Regents, but I'm not comfortable with wide reaching mandates.
In talking to several friends of mine who are high school teachers in Virginia, it's actually sad to hear them talk about the mandatory SOLs. They have all said in so many words that they no longer are allowed to teach, but to just have the students memorize.
E.G.: I'd like to teach history, but instead of having my pupils understand how the East India Company's monopoly and the Townsend Act directly led to the Boston Tea Party, I'll have to drill into their head the useless factoid that it occured on December 16, 1773. I think the concept is more important than the factoid, but the factoid is what's on the SOL. To me, that's just stoopid.