Ahhh, I remember the good old days when wintertime was my most savage critic. I thought public schools could be improved. Wintertime said, burn them to the ground.
And....Then salt the earth, too! :-) Just kidding! I think they would make great assisted living centers.
I completely support your philosophy regarding the education of children... but I doubt these reforms can be accomplished within our system of government monopoly schools. Attempting to reform these schools is like throwing a grape at the moon and hoping it will land there.
If K-12 schooling was privatized, (supported by vouchers and private scholarships), I believe we would quickly see reading, math, science, and social studies scores immediately improve.