[tadd]

Actually tabs, the one shoe size fits all was the best. IMHO education went south when we started stratifying education. In the one room school house the smart kids helped the slow ones. The smart kid got the benefit of truly learning the subject and the slow one got more time and help than just the single teacher can provide. Plus everyone got a sense of community from helping.

Pulling out the smart kids just made it harder to help the slower ones and make them feel 'special' and entitled... a local magnet school is a very small pool to pull from people wise. Teaching freshman chemistry to incoming college kids was always an awakening to the students. Vanderbilt brought in top notch kids from all over and was a big eye opening. What was 'easy' in high school once you start playing with everyone else being top performers, isn't so easy anymore.

Charter schools will never work because they can self select. Public schools are REQUIRED to take and educate the dross. Private are not. Until society is ok with leaving a large segment of its population behind, ~33% just on raw statistics, we will not fix schools.

I'm almost to the point that I would do away with all schools. There should only be schools paid for by business, government, and the wealthy. Those that need educated labors should pay for them. Just more socialism for business.