That is so true.
I was shopping in a used books bookstore today and saw textbooks from a few years back, and also from a number of years back, and I think they underline the fact that schools have been watering-down the curriculum, the standards, and that this is reflected in the quite watered-down textbooks used in public schools today. (I had a short talk with a math teacher where I used to teach, and I described how I had a challenging time in my geometry class in 10th grade back in 1983. Well, the math teacher of today told me that the class I described to him had, for the most part, been eliminated from the curriculum, with only a small part surviving as part of a “gifted” math class—I had hold back a laugh, as the materials weren’t all that tough, not even for this barely above average math student/pupil.) Bottom line: If your kids are, say, in the 76th to 89th percentiles, I’d consider moving them to more challenging private/parochial schools. I mean, if the kids are already in the top 10 percent, well then, it probably doesn’t matter so much where they learn, because they will probably be able to learn in spite of the public schools’ watered-down curriculum. And if they’re below the 75th percentile, well I’d recommend first of all getting the kids a private tutor, and might well just allow them to try to improve their performance in the public schools, as it may already be challenging enough for them there. Plus maybe they will really benefit from the public schools’ purported biggest selling points; i.e., the socialization experience of the public school setting, plus all the sports programs available to further enhance that socialization process.