America's education system is a dismal failure in comparison the rest of the first world. It's relatively apparent after spending just a few minutes in an American school. But don't expect it to get any better any time soon.
Politicians have been using the subject of education to win votes for as long as I can remember. The idiotic No Child Left Behind agenda is the most recent federal retardation of our children. There's probably been even stupider agendas flying around in individual states. But is formal education as whole really all that important to the actual education of a child?
The most important thing a child could ever learn is how to read, and critically. The fact of the matter is, if you teach a child to read and think critically, there's no limit to their education. Of course, they must be interested in the material to learn it well, but if they can think critically, it is major step in the right direction.
I'm obviously simplifying the situation and it is much more complex than I let on. For one poor areas need as much public education funding as any other. The funding of libraries is also essential towards education. With a good book and the desire to learn, there's a lot a child can do.
