Thank you for the thorough comment.
People hold on desperately to the concept of God and religion, because of so much fear of the unknown; the fear of wht will happen after we die. And fear can be apralyzing. People will do anything to make themselves feel better; to make themselves feel safe.
But the truth is, we face to unknown everyday, not just when we die. Not one of us knows what the next day will bring, or the next hour for that matter. But we don't live our entire lives trying to soothe a fear of the ticking clock. Humans would do better to be able to make peace with not knowing, and stilllive a contented, fulfilled life.
You are 100% correct. These stupid standardized tests due nothing to show the true measure of a child's learning, and they spend too much time preparing children to take a meaningless test, rather than teaching them skills that will help them to survive and thrive in our world; particularly the ability to think critically. As well as the ability to reasons through problems and research. Children need to know how to properly research anything from reputable sources, so that they won't be duped by media, politicians and the lowest common denominators of society.
