Our educational system is atrocious. Apparently it was designed to be that way:
http://www.thememoryhole.org/edu/school-mission.htm
Time to move John Taylor Gatto’s books higher on the reading list. Either Mim or Rachel (can’t quite remember which) recommended Dumbing Us Down sometime ago, but I haven’t gotten to it yet.
Update: The article I based this on has disappeared, damnit. It was a good one, too. If I find it again I’ll relink.