There's only one important myth of American education, which does not exist anywhere else in the world.
That is the myth that all, or virtually all, young adults are capable of tenth-grade level work and beyond.
This is manifestly false and has resulted in the erection and maintenance, at huge cost, of giant holding pens for 15-18 year olds, and the debasement of academic values and evaluation systems for all.
Free universal public education must end at age 14.
It certainly is possible! Just keep lowering the standards for 10th grade level work!
Mandatory education should end at 16, as it did in the past. Kids who don't want to be in school should be given the freedom to get a job.
As someone else said on an earlier thread, we have moved from teaching Latin and Greek in our high schools to teaching remedial reading in our universities.
In Germany, and several other European countries, they have dual education tracks. Those who are not cut out for going to college go into apprenticeship programs (70% of German kids go into apprenticeships rather than college). Belgium also has such a program
I was in 8th grade in the 60's. My classmates and I took tests which determined whether we went to a college prep HS, or a vocational/technical high school (vo/tech students could go to school for a variety of technical subjects like aeronatics repair, auto mechanics. electronics, etc).
The system seems to have gone away in the US due to political correctness
It didn't used to be that way - young people could drop out of school at 16 and go to work in a factory - work their way up and be making a decent living and raise a family. Those factories are no longer an option for most young people because they have been moved to Mexico, China, and other places out of our country. So, now we tell these kids that they have to stay in school and prepare for college even though they are clearly not capable or interested in doing that. Most high schools now have terrible vocational programs or none at all. It is inexcusable that everyone is put on the "college track"in high school or just plain ignored.