State Sen. Dan Patrick wonders why the editorial boards of the New York Times and Washington Post should care about Texas public education testing policy.

What’s more, he wonders why Texans should care what those newspaper editorial boards think about it.

http://www.texasobserver.org/dan-patrick-defends-plan-to-scale-back-testing/

I think I have the answer to the Houston Republican’s rants about them big-city media types. It’s because Texas matters to all Americans. We’re a big and important state. Indeed, our state economy is ranked at or near the top 10 of all the national economies of the world. We have more than 5 million students enrolled in public schools in Texas. The state is home to some of the finest publicly funded universities in the world. I won’t name them, for fear of leaving out someone’s alma mater.

At issue is whether the state should scale back the testing requirements it places on students. House Bill 5 would no longer require certain tests designed to prepare students for college. Some higher education officials are concerned that students graduating from high school will be ill-equipped for the rigors of college curriculum, which the New York Times has noted on its editorial page. It also noted that Gov. Rick Perry is concerned as well.

Patrick, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, wants the Times and the Post editorial boards to butt out.

My question is: Why should they? Texas education policy resonates across the country. We’re big and powerful, right, senator?

Heck, Sen. Patrick should be flattered that we’re getting all this attention.