I went to a state run (public in local parlance) high school in Australia in the 2000s. The school was in an area that was beginning to gentrify. It had student

I went to a state run (public in local parlance) high school in Australia in the 2000s. The school was in an area that was beginning to gentrify. It had students from a variety of backgrounds, with the majority being working class. The school had many problem students to keep staff occupied and looked as though it was very under-funded. However I agree with GP: I never saw any of the kind of incompetence and institutional dishonesty this article talks about. One thing I'll say of Australia, it's public institutions seem reasonably honest.