Learning how to spell is a waste of time

Why do we celebrate English spelling? It's confusing and convoluted. The only thing that good spelling demonstrates is one's proficiency for rote memorization. Instead of wasting time teaching children how to spell, I'd rather schools spend time cultivating creativity and critical thinking. With computers becoming increasingly ubiquitous, as long as you can spell well enough to allow spellcheck to give you a set of proposed corrections, then you probably know enough spelling.

Hopefully, we'll eventually come to view learning to spell in the same way that we view learning how to write in cursive. While I'm glad that many people, including me, take pride in their handwriting, I'm unconvinced that it's a skill that we need to force everyone to learn in elementary school. The time would be better spent making sure that students know how to touch type instead.