John Hood’s Daily Journal reminded me of a recent segment from Carolina Journal Radio.

Kati Haycock of a group called The Education Trust criticized North Carolina leaders during a public meeting last month for deciding to set a low bar for student achievement.

Haycock said that low bar might have made sense decades ago, when students in this state lagged far behind their counterparts throughout the country. But the state can boost student achievement to acceptable levels only if that low bar is continually “ratcheted up,” Haycock said.

You’ll hear lawmakers’ reaction to Haycock’s assessment, including Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand’s assessment that, “It looks like to me there’s a little bit of a shell game going on in this.”