My children go to public schools. They are suburban, rather than inner-city districts, so they are not as bad . . .yet.
I put no faith in socialized education, especially now that our public schools are being flooded with immigrants who do not speak English, which takes even more time and money away from American children.
Even if we had the best teachers in the world, all the testing we could come up with would not do a thing regarding the fact that many teachers these days are faced with more and more children who are disruptive and disrespectful, and the teachers have to spend more and more of their time trying to "reason" with these kids rather than teach the smart kids who behave. They cannot discipline the kids, for fear of being fired or sued.
Our schools are deteriorating because of a deterioration in our social fabric, not because we have crappy teachers.
In the end, if your fourth grader can't read, it is your fault, not the teachers.
"They cannot discipline the kids, for fear of being fired or sued."
When I was a kid, the teacher reasoned with me by pulling out the paddle and giving me a few whacks on the behind. It didn't take much time, had a positive effect on the rest of the kids in the class, and kept me in line for a while.