NCLB, Unions, & a Former Student

This is awesome.  It blew me away to see in my Facebook messages.  It's from a student of mine from about 7 years ago.  He is married with children.  Here's what he wrote:

I would like to get your opinion about the NCLB law. I read a lot about it but don't have any personal knowledge. Are the test difficult? Is it a test that everybody should be able to pass? Does it help you with teaching or is it a hindrence? Lastly, there has been a lot of complaints from republicans about unions and specifically public sector unions which i assume that you are a part of. Are you in favor of unions or is it a detriment? 

I sent him a message back but I thought I'd post it here so he could get a variety of opinions.  Let the comments fly.