Public schools cannot reform because the system is a bureaucracy. Bureaucracies are unable to reform themselves.
Why are bureaucracies unworkable?
They contradict the laws of human nature, giving no incentive to improve since the teacher is neither rewarded or punished for doing a good or bad job. No competition is at work since they have a captive audience and are unaccountable to the consumer (parent).
In the words of the brilliant Ludwig von Mises, “In the bureaucratic machine of socialism the way toward promotion is not achievement but the favor of the superiors.”
In fact, teachers who are efficient incur the wrath of their peers (”You make the rest of us look bad”).
Teachers are rewarded/punished for their work. They are rewarded or punished for doing/not doing what they are told by their superiors. In terms of law, a teacher is a “mere employee.” He or she is no more nor no less secure in his/her job than any other worker. This varies from place to place, of course. A teacher who is a federal employee has more statutory rights than a teacher in most states. Union contracts increase those rights. But by and large, teachers who do what the boss demands, more or less, have the most security.