You haven't yet convinced me that what you propose is "something better" than the educators' current curriculum. I know the education system is far from perfect

You haven't yet convinced me that what you propose is "something better" than the educators' current curriculum. I know the education system is far from perfect, and obviously some schools are more effective than others, but I am open to hearing your ideas more fleshed out. Once kids know the three R's then maybe you can introduce some of these other topics. Writing effectively is a job skill (and one that is lacking as anybody who hires and reads cover letters knows). Basic algebra is practically a prerequisite for programming. You mention learning how to "invest in your future" and that is was I think the standard curriculum aims to achieve. I agree with you that the order of planets and capitals of states are not particularly useful knowledge by themselves. But in order to understand the what is going on in the world knowing geography is pretty important. If you work in any company of a certain size (whose business spans states or countries) then you should not have to refer to Wikipedia for context for every business decision. It has been a while since I have been in school but I have managed to offend a few teachers since with my suggestion of getting computers out of the classrooms completely. This might have changed but when I was in school the students already knew more about computers than the teachers and the teachers could not effectively teach using tools (computers) they did not know.