[RWebb]

partly, in a throw-away society there is little "need" to fix things - it costs too much and is cheaper to get a new one (which is usually significantly advance if it has any electronics at all in it) made by robots or cheap "bowl of rice a day is a significant improvement in lifestyle" type labor

partly, for HS, the students are in such bad shape that they need 4 years of readin, writin and 'rithmatic just to get to the level of a 9th grader from 30 years ago