"Testing, Testing, 1, 2...Fail: Promoted By Test Scores?"

Our educational system has changed their method of teaching. Gone are the teachers' red pen marks emulating a student's mistakes in an essay, hello spellcheck. Gone is the required trips to the library to fumble with the Dewey System while searching for research books--hello Google. 

Despite these technological replacements for critical thinking, our students are working hard in their classrooms. They are being forced to work  nonstop with no arts programs, such as music and art, in place to give the mind a breather, and they are being given more advanced work with less time to ask the extra questions. As if this wasn't hard enough, the NYC public school system now promotes students not by the merits and quality of their work year-round, butbased on the scores they obtain on the annual ELA Reading and Mathematics State Tests. Considering that many students simply have a fear of tests, and can freeze, while other students can cram the night before and retain information, is this centralized method of promotion criteria setting our children up to fail?