This was just announced at my school today. This proves either that the College Board's new test isn't working or that students just don't care enough to work hard anymore...or maybe both. However, I think the writing section should be scrapped. Colleges already get to see how you write in you application essay, so why do they need to see your score on a 25-minute timed essay draft? After all, in the real world, you have more than 25 minutes to write essays and reports, and they are not just an unedited spewing of the first ideas that come to your mind like on the SAT.
One reason for a timed essay on the SAT is that they know reasonably well that YOU DID IT YOURSELF -- no help from parents, "admission counselors," paid prep aides, etc. Second, in real life, as well as on College exams, you frequently have to think, write and produce a piece of writing on deadline. It's not the only thing, but most folks who can't produce a reasonable piece of writing in 30 minutes aren't going to give you Paradise Lost if you give them all year!