Waist of thyme?

Every now and then somebody makes a plea for simplifying spelling - this time it's a University professor who maintains that the time spent on teaching children how to spell could be better used. And there is no doubt that a significant amount of school time does have to be devoted to spelling, and that if we had a "one letter one sound" system, as some other languages do, we could free up that time. There are however two problems. The first is that so many English words come from other languages - mainly Latin and Greek - and their spelling reflects this and is important in order to understand what they mean. The second is that words are pronounced differently in different parts of the country, and a common agreement on spelling is the only way people from different regions can efficiently communicate with each other. Is it bath or barth, is it howse or hice for example? It's a historical millstone, but I'm afraid spelling is important and needs to be learned.