I go to a public school (and one of the best ones in the country (the US)). Even here, that statement is so close to true in some cases I don't know whether to laugh or cry... It's even worse IMHO with middle schools, because that's the time period when a lot of kids internally decide 'oh I'm going to be solely a sports person' vs 'wow! math and electronics and physics are so cool.'

What gets me is that in our school, in one of the best schools in the country, there's so much idiocy - I can't even imagine the levels of stupidity and prison-like institution present elsewhere. (Funny anecdote: at one point last year, the school staff started putting up bars, expandable bars, in the hallways to prevent people from leaving the cafeteria during lunch. There was quite literally no way to get out and go anywhere, without bumping up against an angry security guard.)