This paper suggests that teacher education and assessment share in being bull's-eyes for those who would target culprits for educational problems in the U.S. Section 1 examines what is different about today's education, including: education is a political combat zone; there is a crisis in the number of teachers; there is a crisis in teacher quality; there are less diverse teachers and more diverse students; student learning is the yardstick; and public confidence is in free fall. Section 2 examines various actions that must be taken immediately, most of which require joint action of assessment specialists and teacher experts. This includes building standards and assessments for beginning teachers; reflecting standards in teacher education; building assessments to support student learning; politically supporting standards and assessment; assuring all students good teachers; and becoming rigorous researchers on student results. The paper concludes that change must be drastic and immediate, and people must admit their dissatisfaction with the current state of things and work together in new ways to accomplish more than ever dared before. (SM)