This is an article that everyone interested in education - mathematics and otherwise - should read, takes notes in, and then think critically about what they do, and what they're trying to accomplish. It has its weak points, in places it might be wrong, but it should be read in full, with care.

To the submitter: In case you're confused as to why your submission isn't getting more attention, it has been submitted before. Here are the summarised results from a search query:

A Mathematician’s Lament [pdf]
http://www.scribd.com/vacuum?url=http://www.maa.org/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=135584
2008-03-12 Comments: 0, points: 4

A Mathematician’s Lament
http://www.maa.org/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=870885
2009-10-09 Comments: 1, points: 6

A Mathematician's Lament [pdf]
http://www.maa.org/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1552379
2010-07-27 Comments: 0, points: 4

A Mathematician's Lament
http://maa.org/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1782137
2010-10-12 Comments: 0, points: 4

A Mathematician’s Lament
http://www.maa.org/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1913937
2010-11-17 Comments: 0, points: 3

A Mathematician's Lament [pdf]
http://www.maa.org/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2735660
2011-07-06 Comments: 0, points: 4

A Mathematician's Lament [pdf] [2002]
http://www.maa.org/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2791181
2011-07-21 Comments: 0, points: 3

A Mathematician's Lament
https://gist.github.com/aa3f64a7df38cfd06848
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2894009
2011-08-17 Comments: 0, points: 1

A Mathematician's Lament
http://www.maa.org/devlin/devlin_03_08.html
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3969158
2012-05-14 Comments: 0, points: 7

A Mathematician's Lament: one of the best critiques of K-12 math education
http://www.maa.org/devlin/devlin_03_08.html
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5968655
2013-07-01 Comments: 0, points: 2

A Mathematician's Lament by Paul Lockhart
http://worrydream.com/refs/Lockhart-MathematiciansLament.pdf
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6740375
2013-11-15 Comments: 0, points: 2

A Mathematician's Lament [pdf]
http://www.maa.org/external_archive/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6994939
2014-01-01 Comments: 1, points: 3

A Mathematician's Lament [pdf]
https://www.maa.org/external_archive/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8711638
2014-12-07 Comments: 0, points: 4

A Mathematician’s Lament (2002) [pdf]
https://www.maa.org/external_archive/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8845507
2015-01-06 Comments: 89, points: 167

A Mathematician’s Lament [pdf]
https://www.maa.org/external_archive/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11925532
2016-06-17 Comments: 0, points: 4

A Mathematician’s Lament [pdf]
https://www.maa.org/external_archive/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13515485
2017-01-29 Comments: 0, points: 3

A Mathematician's Lament – Paul Lockhart [pdf]
http://thewe.net/math/lockhart.pdf
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13717356
2017-02-23 Comments: 0, points: 2

A Mathematician’s Lament (2002) [pdf]
https://www.maa.org/external_archive/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13856013
2017-03-13 Comments: 0, points: 2

A Mathematician's Lament:Paul Lockhart presents a scathing critique of K-12 math [pdf]
https://www.maa.org/external_archive/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13859396
2017-03-13 Comments: 0, points: 2