However, overall I'd say that our educational system has devolved into nothing more than daycare.

Well, that states the problem rather succinctly. How about a solution?

One of the greatest things about American Education also plants the seeds for its downfall, and that is, everybody is entitled to a free education through the 12th grade. Unfortunately, whoever makes the "rules" went (IMHO) a step too far and decided that not only is everybody entitled, but they are required to partake of this education, at least through the age of 16. (Perhaps that varies from state to state?)

My solution is this: at birth, everybody gets a "certificate" or whatever, good for life, for a 12-year (13 with Kindergarten) public school education, but nobody is required to use it. Think what classrooms and teachers would be like if everybody was in the room because they wanted to be there!

The people who drop out of school will eventually find out on their own how hard it is to get through life without an education, and would be able to resume their education whenever they had reached sufficient maturity to realize they needed it. Imagine a class full of 30-year-old seventh graders...

Classes would still have to be taught at the level of the lowest common denominator; but that level would be significantly higher than it is now with classes filled with disruptive miscreants who not only don't want to be there, but shouldn't be there.

tanstaafl.