Absolutely!
Everytime I hear crap about class size, environment, and Teacher compensation I bring up my experience:
I was in classes that ranged in size from 52 to 60; My teachers were paid nothing (they were Sisters of St Joseph); and I lived on the Lower Eastside of Detroit.
How did I fare with all those 'disadvantages'?
I have two undergraduate degrees (Pharmacy and Engineering) and one post grad (Engineering).
Its all about demanding performance of both teachers and students.
You're wrong.
Demanding 11th and 12th grade proficiency from people, especially males, with an AVERAGE IQ of 85 is cruel (Remember, IIRQ the SD on 85 is 12. That means you are demanding performance at the 11th grade level from some people with IQs of 73!). It throws their intellectual inferiority in their faces every single day, especially if mixed in with a 100-IQ population which is visibly different.
The result is phony test scores, constant lying, failure when anyone tells the truth, and restless, sullen, angry young men in the millions.
Demand what is possible? Sure.
Demand the absurd? That's wrecking our schools, and the nation along with them.