Curriculum is essential to guide teachers in what to teach, how much depth of knowledge is needed for that grade, and a a timeline to follow so the year will be completed. Curriculum needs to focus on what you can do with information rather than the information itself. I wouldn’t eliminate content, without background we cannot form good, rational, and educated conclusions. We are still giving timed tests in math facts! I know that’s traditional, but it just isn’t as important. My era had no calculators and we needed to be proficient at paper and pencil solutions, but now, perfect calculations are available to everyone. We should focus on what kinds of problems can be solved with mathematics. Spelling is equally less important. Vocabulary should be stressed. My sister years ago was taking a test for a personal assistant position where she was asked to type a large number of words per minute error free. She was laughing at such a test.