I don't disagree with your points. In fact, I wrote an article here on Medium about how I'd like to see public schools evolve and in some key ways it was similar to what you said. I like your ideas. The whole thing is just so damned complicated, sometimes for obvious reasons, and other times for reasons that are not apparent until you dig into it a little and realize, "Oh, I get it now. That would present a problem because of equity/legality/money/the current political climate/or my personal favorite (sarcasm intended) a school leader's absolute conviction that their school is doing great by kids and doesn't need to change a goddam thing. Thus, we educate the same today as we did when our grandparents went to school. I responded to you before just because it rankles me how people will imply or outright accuse teachers of nefarious indoctrination and poisoning of kids minds. Not saying you were doing that; I just get defensive of my occupation because for all its infernal flaws, the vast majority of us in the trenches try our best to teach ALL kids despite the system itself.

(As an aside, if you want to help really change public education for the better, here's a not so obvious place to start: the state standards. Schools are enslaved to them...I mean, ENSLAVED because state testing and all the money associated with it is tied to the standards. The standards keep schools in line in America and from what I see in my school, a school most people would consider wealthy and liberalish, there is little you can do differently out of fear that test scores drop and money is sacrificed.)