Unfortunately, middle school kids can't just "quit school and join a club." They and their parents are there under threat of compulsory education laws. Maybe that's what pisses so many kids and their disinterested parents off. Think about it.
Well, it is changing and perhaps for the better. Public schools that are afraid of losing kids to homeschooling are now offering on-line courses for kids who for one reason or another just don't want to attend the local school and put up with all the nonsense. It's a win-win situation -- kid gets to live the life he wants to live, develops his own interests on his own time (considerably more time than if he attended school for 7 1/2 hours a day) and gets an education, and the school gets a chunk of change for providing the service. Neither has to have much to do with the other if they don't want to.
I think there should be many more choices --- vouchers might be a very good answer --- I'd just as soon have my kids go to a school that was only about learning and skip all the social events --- lunch could be for eating but wouldn't need to be about popularity. Here the kids often get together and leave the campus with their groups and that's quite dangerous. You even see kids rearrange their class schedule so they can have lunch together ---- it seems they don't remember what school is really for.