Sure. And I struggle with this balance myself as a parent. But schools do have some very strong responsibility in education - otherwise why are we giving them p

Sure. And I struggle with this balance myself as a parent. But schools do have some very strong responsibility in education - otherwise why are we giving them prime 8 to 12 to 16 years of our lives? And we pay them and kids spend more time with them than with us (we do not contrary to your post have 168hrs a week with them! Kids go to school and play with their friends and sleep and do other activities. School is by far the biggest chunk of their time pie graph!) . When viewed from that perspective our expectations should be high, while not dismissing our our part as parents and supporters of the school. I don't like the north American attitude toward teachers, but i disagree we should not absolve education system of basic education responsibilities.