A bit off subject but... it has taken me a number of years to admit this since my child has been teaching at an elementary public school for more than a decade and I work for a school union (The state I now live in is a "right-to-work" state; I'd love to be fired because of my political beliefs - I'd become wealthy overnight) BUT...
public education in America is a Federally mandated..., taxpayer funded..., union controlled... JOBS PROGRAM. Education of children is a 'by-product' of the "goal" which is to provide jobs for workers.
Frankly... it is my personal opinion that you simply do not love your children enough ...if you send them to public school.
We have many "highly qualified" teachers who put forth 100% each and every day. I imagine you will find some in most schools. Dedicated teachers who advance thru merit admit that 'tenure' never protects a teacher who does his/her job. 'Tenure' only protects those contracts that the administration wishes to terminate.
From my prospective most union members are more concerned with personal rights and benefits than job performance. Having said this... I'd be the first to admit that approximately 10% of our members require 100% of union time and expense.
Frankly... as a taxpayer I'm not concerned with providing lifelong positions with retirement benefits to janitors, cooks and bus drivers. I had much rather my tax dollar be spent on "highly qualified" teacher salaries and books rather than benefits for support personnel and school board administrators/lawyers and plant facilities to house school boards. Many of those jobs/tasks could be provided by parent and PTA organizations IF the unions would permit it AND the parents REALLY valued public education.
But... who really values something that is free?
IMO, you could fix public schools by eliminating teachers as direct district employees, and hiring them on as contractors (at very competitive salary), then eliminating public education as a right. If a student is a screw off, and their parents refuse to parent, they can home school.