"I'm just guessing here, but I think it may be because American school systems are decentralized. They're controlled by the local school board, which consists o

"I'm just guessing here, but I think it may be because American school systems are decentralized. They're controlled by the local school board, which consists of car dealers who were high school football players, instead of some national Ministry of Education run by PhDs." The real difference is that most European and Asian countries use tracking ( http://www.vdare.com/Sailer/080622_paradox.htm http://www.vdare.com/Sailer/080622_paradox.htm ). Forcing all students onto the same curriculum makes no one better off. Less apt kids don't learn the skills that would actually be useful to them. The nerds have their courses dumbed down, and earn the hatred of the kids who receive poor grades. Local school boards do not actually have that much control. Have you noticed how schools have nearly the same basic structure everywhere? Education PHD's have an enormous influence because they control the education schools. That influence has been almost entirely pernicious. Plus they have a lot of control over curriculum requirements that come down from the state and federal boards of education. Teachers unions have an enormous amount of power and are also a national organization. One more under-reported factor is the Supreme Court decision in the 1970's that made school discipline much, much harder to enforce. Read "The World We Created at Hamiliton High" ( http://www.amazon.com/World-We-Created-Hamilton-High/dp/067496201X http://www.amazon.com/World-We-Created-Hamilton-High/dp/0674... ) to see the chaos that ensued as a result this "student rights" decision.