You typically need to have attended a good university to get a good job and to get into a good university you need to have graduated from a good secondary

You typically need to have attended a good university to get a good job and to get into a good university you need to have graduated from a good secondary school - which you need to have paid for either through tuition or taxes. You left yourself a wiggle word there, but it doesn't make the sentiment correct. Just as a programmer I've worked with and for folks who have graduated from such juggernauts as Northwestern Oklahoma State, Southeast Missouri, San Jose State, and a host of other non-premier colleges. Not to mention the huge number of folks from public schools of various orders. I myself attended from Central Arkansas, and have had no issue getting a good job. My wife's experience in her field has been much the same. Now that doesn't mean the playing field is completely fair. As an entrepreneur I've been frustrated by the advantages kids coming out of the top-tier schools have. This is especially true in anything related to finance. Those schools are a ticket into that world, and it's a really amazing advantage. Both in terms of landing extremely high paying jobs (fund managers and the like) and in terms of raising money. It's much easier to fund raise when you come with that sort of credibility and direct connection to those who have a lot of money. Still, lets not confuse matters here. People from lower tier schools make it, and make it big, all the time. The system isn't rigged, it's remarkably fair. I worked hard to become very good at what I do. I put myself in a position to learn and experience a big win. That's given me the credibility I need to start to enjoy some of those advantages as well. Lots of others have done the same thing. So I reject the premise of your statement. Although I largely disagree with the notion that education is in crisis. There are certainly areas of crisis, but those cultures seem cultural and not institutional. Studies have shown that the vast majority of our kids are competitive on the world level. It's that our lowest performing areas REALLY underperform. I also reject the idea that further divorcing school from the community it serves is a good idea.