I went to a semi-private school, where we had to pay tuition, if you lived inside the school district, you got a huge discount. If not, you had to pay about $1500 per year. Our school was rated number 1 in the state academically. NO government subsidies, just tuition. We had some of the most dedicated teachers, even to the point that some of the teachers I had in 1979 are still there.

They get great benefits, and great pay, so the school can attract the best of the teaching college that was in the same city. My parents made an active decision to move to a neighborhood where the school district was available. When the next city annexed our neighborhood, we moved where we could stay in that school system.

As for the welfare schools, we should just shut them down, and start all over again, and keep the government out of it!

The schools where I live now, did not require algebra until the senior year. We had to have at least algebra 1 by the time we finished the 8TH grade. Just to name one example.

EDIT:

I graduated with a 3.79 GPA from High School. When I finished my BSEE, I had a 4.0 GPA. Our school system gave me a really great head start!

The only way to fix it is to go back to a time that seperate classes and schools for those that cannot keep up.