Should we simplify spelling? No.
However, what is irksome to me is that fact that our most glorified scholastic competition is not a math, or science, or even a music competition, but a spelling bee.
How quaint.
How many jobs are created by good spellers? How many hungry get fed? How many lives are saved? Do we thwart our enemies by outspelling them? Catch any criminals? Create any energy?
Plenty, if you want to communicate effectively.