Schools are legally responsible for delivering to all children what the state and school boards mandate in a prescribed curriculum, while teachers are held accountable for its delivery. A major part of this responsibility relates to the teaching of the basic skills of reading, writing, and computation. A current trend to assure the teaching of these skills is competency testing, which in some cases has resulted in revision of curricula and a strengthening of those areas covered by the tests. Critics contend, however, that minimum competency exams test too narrow a range of skills and do not produce a better instructional system. Some form of periodic and systematic audit of pupil progress is necessary, but merely passing competency laws or providing for education through legislative mandate will not insure that students acquire the basic skills. It is the legal responsibility of all teachers to see that a basic skills curriculum is followed, that students are expected to achieve a level of proficiency in the use of the English language and in computation, and that periodic evaluation of that achievement becomes part of curriculum planning. (HTH)