Reddit reviews Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools

My friend, you have just stepped into a minefield. Get a helmet, and start reading some books. There is much for you to learn.

You aren't wrong, you're right about most is the things you say. It's why I ended up studying education policy in graduate school. Unfortunately, the more we know the more helpless we become.

Here's some required reading to get your feet wet:

http://www.amazon.com/Spinning-Wheels-Politics-School-Reform/dp/0815736355/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1458110858&sr=1-1&keywords=Spinning+wheels

http://www.amazon.com/Tinkering-toward-Utopia-Century-Public/dp/0674892836/ref=pd_sim_14_28?ie=UTF8&dpID=51DQYN2V19L&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR105%2C160_&refRID=0C983NQYAYFNVQ68XQT5

http://www.amazon.com/Distinction-Social-Critique-Judgement-Taste/dp/0674212770/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1458110942&sr=1-1&keywords=Bourdieu%27s

http://www.amazon.com/Reign-Error-Privatization-Movement-Americas/dp/0345806352/ref=sr_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1458111017&sr=1-14&keywords=Education+policy

If you're interested, David Berliner has done a lot of research in this area and has written a few books that help to dispel the claim that America's public schools are failing. I recommend starting with The Manufactured Crisis (1996) by Berliner and Biddle, which debunks the Nation at Risk report that catalyzed the "failing" narrative. A more recent book by Ravitch (2014), Reign of Error, also covers the topic quite extensively.

Limited evidence. A good critic of the system, and other reforms, is Diane Ravitch. Well worth reading these books.

https://www.amazon.com/Death-Great-American-School-System/dp/0465025579

https://www.amazon.com/Reign-Error-Privatization-Movement-Americas/dp/0345806352/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467760769&sr=1-2