I really don't see a major problem with public schools. I went to an inner-city public school, and it had the same problems as other schools in the nation: Violence, drugs, whatnot. We also had a pretty decent school band, a champion debate team, and a kick butt basketball program.
No, it wasn't as good as a private school, but I came out more or less intact with a good education and a good shot at college.
Can you clarify this with the year you graduated from High School, and in what inner-city.
Also, what college you refer to?
The changes made in school curriculums was done in increments over time. It seems to me the 90's was a full-charge-ahead decade, perhaps a race to 2000 by the elite global powers-that-be.