There are 3 major problems (and a zillion minor ones) with US public education as currently constituted. 1) Many schools/school districts, particularly in poor urban neighborhoods, are underfunded. 2) Even schools/districts that are adequately funded often waste money on excessive bureaucracy. 3) Given geographic, bureaucratic and money restraints, children in bad schools often can't switch to better schools. Naturally, people who can afford private schools are able to dodge these problems. One frequently proposed solution is to have school 'vouchers' to offset the cost of private education and have everyone go to private schools. The *big* problem with this is that most voucher proposals don't fund full tuition, so a poor family with a $4k per year voucher *still* can't afford to send Junior to a $10k/year private school. My solution would be a single-payer public school system. Governments would provide a full-tuition voucher. Any school that wanted to accept those vouchers could do so, but would be banned from accepting *ANY* other funding. With a full-tuition voucher, students/parents would be able to select a school that best fit their needs/wants without concern about cost. We would still need some government oversight to make sure all voucher schools met minimum standards for hygiene, cirriculum, non-discrimination, etc. Also, there are some details to work out(Question 1: What is an adequate funding level?) but I think this would 'raise the floor' on education without limiting the 'ceiling'.

1. I would start by making funding for our schools a priority, not something we have to complain about to get. I would do away with the 'No Child Left Behind Act'. What a joke! The idea that one school deserves more/better funding than it's neighbor is ludicrous! 2. I would retrain employees (and in some cases, parents) how to teach the 30% of children who do not fall into the 'norm'. Half of those children are being dumbed-down, while the other half are getting lost in the huge gaping cracks. 3. I would concentrate on finding ways to get parents/family members more involved in their children's education. This is key to success. Honestly, can you think of any one area of issues that is more important than educating the people who will be taking care of us all and running the world all too soon?

I'd get rid of the corporate sponsorship, the military sponsorship and generally anything else that makes them stupid, fat or deadly.

The first 2 answers hit quite a few good points. I am going to go to a basic problem, food. The food they serve is barely edible. Chocolate milk comes with lunches but to get a bottle of water it costs extra (please explain this...). Rarely does my sons school serve veggies that are recognizable. How are our children supposed to be able to concentrate on school work when they are loaded down with carbs, chicken nuggets, chocolate milk and 3 pieces of corn?