TEST TEST TEST

Everything I hated about working in a corporate environment is true about education and it
hit me only today. My friends who are IT professionals and the like constantly complain about long meetings, unrealistic goals, silly sounding pep-talks full/ of meaningless double speak, etc. I had my share of that kind of environment at UPS during school.
Everything we're doing comes back to test scores. The other day my teacher/ told me about a plan book she had gotten. The subject was building community, and she showed me some activities she had planned to help build community in her classroom. Sounds like a great idea! The student body seems to be really needy emotionally, and some semblance of family unit is exactly what the doctor ordered. Now, I don't doubt this woman's commitment for a second- she loves these kids like her own and they know it. But what she said next shook me to the core: "because studies show that building a community atmosphere can raise test scores." What has this environment done that has polluted the mind of even the most loving, selfless teacher I have ever known?
Yesterday we watched Underdog as a reward for those students who met xyz requirement for being one of the "good" kids. It bugged me to death to lose instructional time, but the kids seemed to enjoy it and honestly, they probably needed a break. Then after the film, they got a peptalk about how the principal wanted the students to be like the Underdog on the TCAP. We can't even watch a movie anymore...
This kind of environment feels so much like the corporate environment that I want to scream. I went into this because I wanted to be in a field that was not a selfish rat race. Instead, what I'm finding is that test scores have replaced profits. At least in a mindless, pointless race toward profit I might make money. As it is, I'm in a mindless, pointless race toward an increase in score on a test that I believe is fundamentally flawed.
All of my campus school profs told me not to worry about test scores- if I taught well, it would happen. But I really feel like displaying that attitude in the field would get me canned pretty quickly.