But things like mathematics and formal/standardised 'persuasive writing' are, to an extent, overrated on a societal level relative to things like creative writing, art, music, and increasingly history. It's a similar phenomenon to how a college education is increasingly perceived as necessary to be a productive member of society with the hope of good employment even though it's if anything less affordable than ever and no more useful for many occupations than it ever was. The simple fact is that not every facet of society requires or even calls for the kinds of skills that our schools are placing almost fetishistic emphasis on through this sort of testing.
Please point to me all the employers that give 2 $hits about your background in music and art.
there is, or at least used to be, more to being human than renting oneself for another's accumulation of capital.
