Policy and Legislation

Still thinking about this whole "schooled-up" idea, it really makes you wonder how education got to where it is today. How have we been able to skew its reasons and foundations so much that we have made it not about the learning, but the business? What a scary thought!
Thinking along the lines of policy and legislation this week, I have been thinking about how much of my day is spent on more than just teaching. Of course there are the daily tasks such as checking email and making photo copies, and then there's the time that's spent talking with and "parenting" the students. Then there's the part of the day that's spent addressing the aspect of education that somehow seem to feel like they're about everything but education!
While speaking to different teachers in my building about policies and legislation, they all said similar thoughts. They all, in some way or another talked about how sometimes, policies or legislation that come across the table, so to speak, will come and go. Sometimes these great "educational ideas" are only around for a short while and then someone new is in charge and there are new great "educational ideas". However, there are also policies and legislation that are passed that tend to hang around, and can't be 'swept under the rug'. NCLB is a perfect example of this. I was told by a few teachers in my building that when it first was established teachers said, "this too shall pass". However that is truly not the case. This is a huge issue in our education system today where teachers actually have little say.
So in thinking about our role as educators, where it is our job and duty to educate our students, how much say do we actually have in determining what they should know or how they should learn. Ideally it should be completely up to us. We're the ones teaching the classes after all. But now we all have certain standards to meet, whether or not we like them or not, and our jobs and the future of our schools actually depends on our students meeting those standards.
So what should we do? Where do we start to push the limits? Is this, or should this be our job? How is this going to better our education system? Do you think we'll ever be able to break away and change education for the better, or do you think there will always be this constant battle?