Quote:
Originally Posted by Afallucco  The unsuccessful nature of much of the American education system is largely due to the lack of discipline in schools and at home. |
I don't believe that this is a major component. Schools are grossly underfunded, they have to deal with unfunded governmental mandates, teachers' salaries are so low that they can't attract the brightest college grads to the profession, the teacher:student ratio is terrible, and the mainstreaming of kids with special needs and the elimination of gifted programs means that classroom quality is going to regress towards some mediocre mean. Extracurriciular activities are being compromised, arts / music / sports are the first to get cut, facilities are run down, so school is a less enriching experience. In the end it all comes down to funding. With enough money and enough societal commitment our schools would be a lot better.