That’s what I don’t like is that it’s become a game, oh I can skip gym and add a tenth of a point, I can claim a disability and take two hours longer on a test. Everyone gets an A now and you win by working the system
Well...I'm of two minds on that.
It definitely is a game. My son's best friend was their class Valedictorian. He worked very hard, but he was a talented musician who stayed away from band, orchestra and chorus because they would have dropped his GPA. In his senior year he received a special exemption to be part of the Jazz band without it counting as a class or him receiving a grade for it! They had a mandatory "keyboarding" (typing) class that he refused to participate in until he was assured that no one was going to be exempt from it. He took the fewest courses possible. The young woman he beat for the top spot took an extra semester of Spanish, which wasn't a "5" class and even though she received an "A", it cost her just enough.
By contrast, I took every class I could. My school offered an optional sixth period, which I took every year. One year I took a seventh period because I couldn't fit all the classes I wanted into my schedule. I took PE, Drivers Ed, and Band as summer classes. You needed 21 credits to graduate and I had 22 going into my Senior year. My folks made me take what was called at the time SLEP tests before my Senior year (they were teachers and made me take just about every test under the sun). The test can give you high school credit for knowledge you have already acquired. I did well. I was exempted from the mandatory 4th year of English, Senior Social Studies (Modern European History), the 4th year of Math, and the 4th year of Science. I took them all anyway, except for the Mod E Hi. The teacher was a tool. I was also able to shoehorn in Band, Orchestra and Chorus. I graduated with 28 credits, a record. You'd think that the effort would have warranted some recognition at Senior Awards night. Nope.
The system isn't set up to recognize achievement outside of their narrow parameters. It doesn't foster the creation of leaders, but instead creates treacherous sheep.