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My kids survived public school, and have moved on to college. They live at home, so we still have lots of time to talk about the spin they hear in class. And believe me, they hear it at PSU!

Personal achievement is not valued in our school district. They don't have a valedictorian, and haven't for at least 30 years. The class president (an elected position) addresses the class at commencement. Just this year, the first alternative at the high school level has appeared. There have been a number of private school for K-6 (and my kids went to one), but even the Catholic school didn't do High School - but this year they started.

Apparently it's the price we pay for living in a community where the major employer is a university. They used to try out every new teaching idea in our schools, then after most of them were dismal failures, parents finally stood up in the 80's and said we don't want all the programs and all the student teachers. That reduced it somewhat, but I just heard that the State is going to provide funding for a joint venture with PSU and our school district for the school to be a place where students can do their student teaching easily and new methods can be assessed. I'm glad my kids are out, and my brothers kids are going to private school.