You will learn more problem solving in a day building a shed than you will the quadratic formula. "Critical thinking" is the unproven excuse so that schools can collect tax dollars.
Perhaps, but the quadratic formula only takes a minute to learn, so you can't expect it to yield as much as a day of shed building.
Also, NOT knowing the quadratic formula will make it much harder to solve hundreds of other math related problems. And the same is of course true for most of fundamental math knowledge.
But whatever you may think about the usefulness of mathematics, I can assure you that it's not a giant conspiracy to siphon money from tax payers. Every math teacher you can find (anyone in a STEM field, really) is 100% genuinely convinced that mathematics is extremely useful in a multitude of ways. They could of course all be mistaken, and devwastaken have seen the truth, but I don't think that is very likely.
I know for a fact that there are plenty of people in the US country who can build sheds all day but cannot distinguish fact from fiction and believe wholeheartedly that a man named Qanon is trying to save the country from blood sucking child cannibals. So I don't buy that line for a second.
