Is everyone tired of Villagers telling the president what to say in tonight's State of the Union speech? I know I am. It's almost unbearable, especially when they start whining about how divided government is, as if it's President Obama's job to make it better.

Bill Moyers asked for progressive suggestions for tonight's address, and he got some great answers. Here are my top three:

Bill Haidt says political reform is a must.

We are not making the best laws we can, and our children are going to pay the price in higher taxes and reduced benefits. Should we just throw up our hands in despair? Or should we roll up our sleeves and do something about it? My top priority for 2013 is political reform.

Diane Ravitch wants a challenge to out-educate and out-innovate other nations and put an end to vouchers and charter school initiatives. This one is my personal favorite.

Over the past four years, I have learned what we need to do. First, we must end the pressure on teachers to teach to the test. I have said it before and I will say it again: We want teachers to teach with creativity and passion. I call on states not to pay bonuses to teachers to produce higher test scores and to stop evaluating teachers based on the test scores of their students. We now realize that this causes teaching to the test. That must stop now. Of course, teachers should be evaluated, but they should be evaluated by other professionals, not by their students’ test scores.

Too much testing crushes creativity and innovation, and that’s why we must stop it — now.

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