It really is a whole package deal: parents, teachers, discipline, environment, money and resources.
What are secrets to success of local military school districts?
Base-school parents and teachers explain why students do well
The trick and the challenge is to apply the successful military school model to districts, students and parents such as those in this South Carolina school.
Most public schools already get more than adequate funding, so it's not the money. This article made a big deal about funding and that's just a red herring. Schoolss in other countries spend far, far less than we do per child, but their results are consistently better.
Discipline and the beating the importance of education into kids are clearly a necessity, but I don't think it's only that, either.
Why was there no info in this article about the types of teachers they hire (NEA types ?), and the type of curriculum they use ? Without that info, you cannot apply these schools as a complete model for anything. You can teach kids discipline and attention, but if they're paying attention to garbage, all you get is garbage regurgitated.