I feel so fortunate that I was able to put my kids in private school for a couple of years. Their friends in public school have fallen behind. Public schools are a horrible bureaucracy that is poorly managed - they care about attendance (read over stuffing classes) but not about education.
Loosely connected to this: my younger brother is currently at the end of American high school and now has the choice to move on to higher education or try to get something going on his own. He is adamant about not going for further education because sitting in front of a laptop and paying 50k/year for that privilege just doesn't make financial sense. I am struggling to find an argument which would still be for higher education in the current environment.