Jean Stockard's (2011) article in the "Journal of Research in Rural Education," "Increasing Reading Skills in Rural Areas: An Analysis of Three School Districts," offers a productive opportunity to discuss the standardization of language and literacy teaching and learning in rural schools. The purpose of this response is to (re)initiate conversation about the political nature of all teaching and learning and prompt readers to consider how ideology and power shape classroom practices. To this end, Pedagogy of Erasure is a theoretical construct used to challenge the instrumental arguments that support the standardized instruction of basic skills. (Contains 2 footnotes.)