I'm not American so I don't know whether the last paragraph is sarcastic or not. But from the tone I guess it is.
Public education where I live is not perfect, but it works well and teachers are compensated fairly. I consider it one of the bedrocks of a democratic society.
In know of people who went to public schools in America and have said good things about it. From my very limited knowledge it seems like the quality of public schools varies a lot from area to area though.
I am American and since it's been mumble mumble years since the public school system, I'm sure the situation is changed. I grew up in a factory town and they did a pretty good job teaching the basics of English, mathematics, and science. Going to college was a bit of a shock but that's a well-known problem.
Nowadays, it is incredibly variable because school systems are funded at the local level, most the curricula is decided at the local level so you can go from a very well-funded high-quality teacher school like the Newton, Wellesley, and Weston high schools to the low income areas out West where the public school system has been outsourced to Christian schools.
I also think the public school system is a bedrock of a democratic society if the curriculum is uniform and covers critical thinking, history, literature, and sciences without flinching. I feel like we need to draw a line in the sand and say what someone needs to know to be a citizen of this country. The problem is, there are lots of different opinions where that line should go ranging from the religious and racist to the equally dogmatic far left.
I think it's misguided to point at the failures of one chronically underfunded public function to say that another would also perform poorly, unless the point is to say we would probably underfund public health care as well.
Public education where I live is not perfect, but it works well and teachers are compensated fairly. I consider it one of the bedrocks of a democratic society.
In know of people who went to public schools in America and have said good things about it. From my very limited knowledge it seems like the quality of public schools varies a lot from area to area though.