Once public education got into the transportation business, as much as 50% of school budgets are for bussing seems so wasteful. Children waiting for busses in the early am, in the dark, on street corners, and some not getting home until evening.
Consider building schools within communities, walking distance, parents responsible for their childrens attendance, older students assisting, security provided by community activists and assisting wherever possible. Invest in more online education... at what age do most children have personal computers, laptops, tablets, cell phones... if education is so important (and it is) who else/all should be responsible for teaching?

I'd change it to be somewhat similar to my schooling for 2nd and 3rd grade. After testing at high school levels in math and science, I was taken out of my class and worked ahead at my own pace sitting next to a teacher's assistant in other classrooms. I really only had English and Social Studies with my classmates. I actually learned a lot during this time. Unfortunately, my dad was transferred during my 3rd grade year so I had to go back to the classroom where I'd be given at least a half dozen textbooks I'd already completed over the next 4 years.

Good ideas! I would still like to learn Matrix-style.

School funding will be the hardest problem to solve, of course. I'm not entirely sure how it is in the U.S., but I consider the subsidising of private schools by government as stealing from the public. We already have good public schools here. But there's been news recently of private schools receiving public monies that allow them to be more like resorts than schools: [smh.com.au]

The higher schools here are more "technical" than those in the U.S. - or used to be. Not sure now. This allowed students to finish school after Year 10 (sophomore year). There wasn't as much stigma with "not going to college" here as there is in the U.S. I can guess it's different now that there's more compeition and fewer "junior" jobs - with the acceptance of automation like ATMs and grocery self check-outs.

I think the public schools are failing drastically because they do not teach students how to teach themselves. They spoonfeed the students test material for the test and they don't really learn what they should be learning and that is how to think and understand the subject the classes is teaching. Somewhere along the line I learned to teach myself from many different sources in subjects that I was interested in. I believe higher education should be taught by the industries that require highly educated people. I was very fortunate I worked for companies that paid for my education which benefit them greatly and they were very liberal about what classes I could take. That takes longer to get your education but it costs you less money. I still use online education I have posted some discussions on this subject in the past.

I would add specific training in emotions, how to cope and understand and how to respond vs react.

If you cannot learn Enlish in 8 years give up. I think there should be more research done by children and everyone should take debating as a course and debate opposite thier own belief system.

In the US. I’d burn it all to the ground, and start from scratch.

I’ll rebuild with Sir Ken Robinson.

Jail Centro Banker, and the job to the people as being the true leaders all along. The would do a better jobs than those crooked Government and bankers for sure.

Two big changes...

1. Teach for mastery, not testing
2. Critical thinking is going to be BIG.

Probably based on the more open, learn from doing models in Europe that let children run around, explore, create, build things, rather than sitting in a classroom all day, five days a week. I would include teaching kids how to be patient, how to communicate, how to develop and employ common sense, how to listen to, develop and follow their instincts, how to grow things. Yoga and medition. Also, reading Beowulf would never be compulsory. Never ever. And defintitely not SIX YEARS IN A ROW. Thanks Baltimore County Public Schools.