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 called Last 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 on learning

For every girl and boy.

And when test booklets were destroyed

And placed into the shredder,

Parents and their children saw

Their lives changed for the better.

Then the children in the streets below

Were dancing round and round,

While #2 pencils and answer sheets

Were scattered on the ground

Last night I had the strangest dream,

The kind Bill Gates detests.

I dreamed the world had all agreed

To throw out standardized tests