I'm glad you expressed your views. Since you are the only teacher who has responded, I have a few questions I hope you won't mind answering:
Are you still teaching? If so, do you agree with the phrase "dumbing down of society?" Do you believe the education system is improving, staying the same or in a decline?
What would you suggest to improve the school system you work in?
I can see your point on the testing and agree with some of what you said, such as that we will need writing skills for work and in life, but not all of what your wrote. I'm not picking on you, I respect your right to your opinion.
Personally, I think that there is and extraordinary amount of pressure on the 3rd graders in our state to pass the FCAT with a score of 50 or better. If you do not, then you do not pass 3rd grade. I believe they are given the chance to retake the test later in the year, but for students who are not good test takers, it is a tough situation. The teachers get a bonus if the school is an "A" school, so the teachers are putting pressure on the students to perform well. I will admit, as much as I complain about the testing, when I was looking for a school for my son(s), the first thing I looked at were the test scores. The consistent "A" test scores for their school, compared to the "D" test scores of our neighborhood school were one of the reasons I chose to send them there.
As for the original question that started this posts...How do we improve our education system?
I haven't a clue. I liked the Montessori approach they used in my son's preschool. It was a learn at your own pace type of program. I know this would not work for all students. Motivation and self-discipline are needed for this type of teaching to work.