re: It's way past time to overhaul our education system

It truly starts in the home. Anyone who says it doesn't has probably not stepped foot in a classroom in several years or at all. Especially in a high-poverty, low-performing area/school. But it certainly doesn't stop there. Working in a major school district a lot of that educational money doesn't funnel down to the school level as it should. A lot of it gets caught up at the board level.

At the same time, you need good administrators who aren't afraid to get rid of bad teachers (and as much as people bitch about unions it can be done with a good admin staff to evaluate and document). And there needs to be more parental responsibility.

We just had a school shooting in my district yesterday. The parent of the 16 year old arrested is already blaming "the system". It's time someone stood up and said "No YOU failed your child". But that won't happen anytime soon.