The root problem with the US education system is the same thing with the rest of US government programs:
There is no bankruptcy mechanism for government agencies.
Bankruptcy removes poorly run private companies from the marketplace. There is no such mechanism for government agencies… so poorly run agencies remain in place a hundred years after they lost their effectiveness.
Why does a public school classroom still look the same today as it did 150 years ago? Ridiculous. Remove the education government agency and you will see hundreds of better options spring up.
Also – bring back corporal punishment. Sure, it was misused in 1% of cases, but it has led to 1000x the problems from students who have no respect for teachers.