I would take issue with this teacher; however, I have yet to witness those “high-stakes examinations” he/she writes of as being over-emphasized. True high-stakes is closing those schools that do poorly over time. I have yet to hear about any school in Ontario being closed because of test scores, so “high-stakes examinations”.....we’re nowhere close to seeing anything “high-stakes” at all.

I’m sure that parents would sooner have those comparisons and rankings at their disposal so that they, and only they, could make the decision of what “high-stakes” they’re willing to expose their children to. Will it be the high stakes of a competent system that freely measures skill levels and builds confidence? Or will it be the “high-stakes” experience of losing a job or failing a post-secondary course because no amount of critical thinking or character development prepared the student for a real-time, real-life competitive marketplace.

For two years I lived in Singapore.
Because of the competitive environment, their education was excellent, and they`re taught in English, but for the most part, speak Asian languages at home.  The kids were very fortunate to be getting an education where parents could shop for schools, as they do in many other countries. Look between the lines of what this teacher wrote—it`s the same rhetoric as any teachers` union purports—hard on the children, the unions say.
She also said it`s a lot of work for the teachers…
I can see why she`s against any type of competition.

I should add that if the teacher above disliked the educational system in Singapore, I felt just the opposite.  Likewise, all of the ‘locals’ (from Singapore) appeared not just to be satisfied with their children’s education, but very satisfied. 
Had I known what the Ontario educational system was like, I would not have come back.

Just before the first grade ten literacy tests were written I happened to be at a meeting of the TDSB where I was a trustee in the 1980s and was sitting beside Louise Brown the Toronto Star reporter I had know for many years. We both had a copy of the board agenda and on one page was the 125 high schools in decending order based on the LOG grant criteria, in simple terms decending from rich to poor. I said to Louise “well we now have the results of the EQAO literacy test.” She said, “how could that be, they are not written until next week.I said “no, we have them now. The schools will finish in EXACTLY this order.” Louise said, “oh you mean a skewing towards high scores for the affluent and low scores for the poorer school?” I said, “no they will finish in exactly this order, all 125 schools without one school even one place out of the rankings.” Louise looked at me as if I were out of my mind but said, “Look Doug, we are going to do lunch when these scores come out and if you are right, that is a big story.” When the results came out I was wrong. 124 of 125 schools were in the exact decending order by income, one school was out of place by 8 places. We met, had lunch and discussed why. I told Louise, “I know you think I am clairvoyant but the reason I knew this would be the exact order is that whereever you go in the world, the schools finish in exact order of income. The Star published my chart of scores and incomes,with a front page story that led to full page story inside explaining why testing results are always related exactly to social class and income. The citizens of Toronto at least understand that the test measure nothing more than the size of the parents income.