Probably because the country I live in has much less variation in the quality of secondary education. The fact the US hasn't figured out how to offer a consist

Probably because the country I live in has much less variation in the quality of secondary education. The fact the US hasn't figured out how to offer a consistent level of K-12 education is, quite frankly, mind-boggling (along with the lack of health care, and many other things we take for granted in the rest of the 'western' world).