Gary Rubinstein argues that we teach too many subjects in math, so we should reduce the number of topics in the curriculum and make math beyond eight grade into electives.
The biggest problem with math education is that there are way too many topics that teachers are required to teach. … When teachers have to teach too many topics, they do not have time to cover them all in a deep way. The teacher, then, has to choose which topics to cover in a meaningful way, and which to cover superficially.
–Rubinstein (2012): The Death of math on Gary Rubinstein’s Blog
And the decision on which subject to cover in-depth is determined by the design of the tests.
I’d certainly support his first suggestion.