"I am terrified for citizens of a free nation who allow themselves to be called "our workforce""
If a capitalist system doesn't run on its "workforce", what does it run on?
Look up "capital" you'll find labor included....is that better?
A better idea than throwing more dollars into the broken public system would be for Gates to open his own private schools, with the improvements he thinks needs to happen.
He could then lobby for vouchers so that ordinary people could send their children to his schools instead of the broken public ones.
There's nothing stopping him, from demonstrating his point, and leading by example.
What some of us are trying to say is that education must be more than just a "technical" education. Many of the present generation are terrific technically but unable to think logically. Think about the possible correlation between the techies in the SF Bay Area and this area being the bastion of liberalism. See post 95 regarding the type of education that offers some hope.