51.   And if test scores are an indication, public education is getting better and, with it, the future prospects of many young Texans.

52.   And school officials say test scores and other academic indices are showing improvement.

53.   And test scores are one of the areas in which district students do poorly.

54.   And the results they demand are not measured child by child but test score by test score.

55.   And with dismal student and teacher test scores making headlines, others on Beacon Hill want to direct more money toward education.

56.   And, most dramatically, he helped nudge test scores steadily upward in the Houston district, which is largely black and Hispanic.

57.   And when they do, white students are far more likely than blacks to be placed in higher-level classes, based on test scores and teacher recommendations.

58.   And, fortunately, she is blissfully ignorant of how important her test scores are to politicians, great and small.

59.   And this would fundamentally change the character of the colleges, sharply lowering average test scores and displacing huge numbers of high-scoring middle-income whites.

60.   Anyone who can tell me that a school that receives lower test scores should lose state funding never spent a day doing what I did for ten years.