Also, I am not sure how many teachers are truly challenging their students to learn vs. teaching them to basically pass the SOL or whatever standardize test is used now. I believe a lot of school systems have it structured that if a teacher doesn't have a certain percentage of students pass the SOL, then he/she could be out of a job at the end of the school year.

Plus, I think every state has a law that require children go to school until a certain age. Once that child reaches a certain age, then I think parents are limited on what reasons they can remove their child from school. For example the Amish and Old Order Mennonites remove their children from school after a certain age and I believe the cite religious freedom as the justification. Something else that may be worth considering is I think homeschooling and alternative learning online may be on the rise in the US. I have nothing against alternative forms of educating our youth because each person learns best in a different environment. For children, who are homeschooled or learn via an online service, I do wonder how developed their social skills are since they are not physically in a school and required to interact with their peers and adults on a daily basis.