"Philadelphia"
The difficulty with the argument is, just because one's personal experience with a school or school district isn't acceptable doesn't mean that ALL public schools are bad.
It's like some terrorist professing to be "Christian" means all Christians are bad.
Of course you are correct - my point in these two cases is that in PA, these entire school districts were taken over by the state for non-performance (80% of kids tested at a basic or below level). That is more than anecdotal - it's fact, if you believe the standardized tests. Oh, but then you'd have to read about it, not just get involved yourself - your logic.
Yes, in Philly you have Masterman and Girls High and a few others, but even there the curriculum is mandated by the state and the teachers still belong to the NEA - they still teach socialism and group think, just at an accelerated level. :)
Ever look at the IB (International Baccalaureate) program that is all the rage in many high-achieving schools, in some cases supplanting AP classes ? Who approves that curriculum ? It's sponsored by the United Nations - need I say more ? You want your child taught one world government, pro international courts, radical environmentalism, socialism, pro-homosexual, anti-family ? Kids in the IB curriculum represent the best and brightest of this nation, and what they are being taught undermines everything that has made this nation great.
Oops, sorry, I asked you to read something else.
Actually, all public schools are fundamentally flawed in such a way that if they are not currently bad, they are on the way to becoming so.
And consider this: We all understand that if, say for example, you send your children to a Catholic school, they will be exposed to some quantity of Catholic thinking...perhaps taught some ideas that are distinctively Catholic. Likewise, if you send your children to a Baptist school, they will be taught out of a Baptist worldview, and be exposed to some Baptist ideas. This principle holds true whether you send your children to school at a kibbutz, or to a madrassa.
So why are we surprised, then, when we send our children to government schools, they get exposed to the idea that government is the answer to everything?