Actually, communities that have the will and the money are now producing world class students. The problem is, few communities have the will or the money.
Amen! I have horror stories and battle scars to prove that I was among a handful of parents who went to war with our school district over academic scheduling/content. This was approx twelve years ago and we ended up having to compromise because of the HUGE leftwing cult in academia.
Like I said, if I had it to do over, I'd educate my children myself or join a home school group. I liken the lack of good public education for our children to the silent killer of our country, and I'm not kidding. There are too many parents blinded by Johnny's and Susie's straight A's....