Good OP by 4ager - important topic - thanks.
The degredation has been gradual and steady - pernicious to the point where many schools are suffering with regard to their core purposes. I agree that government intrusion and resulting rigidity has become significant part of the current problem - and remedial steps will be required to stop the slide down past mediocrity in many school situations.
BUT - a basic enabler - and in many cases a cause - of the above has been a serious decline in leadership commitment and courage on the part of school superintendents COUPLED with the fact that most parents do not properly involve themselves and assert their ownership and diligent oversight of public schools.
The great public schools in this country - large and small - urban and rural - were built upon strong local funding/control and local assertion. Effective leaders in the form of superintendents and pricipals, and excellent teachers, were the expectation and the norm. This has been lost, and many schools are plagued by "I don't care" teachers and "go by the regs" leaders. It has been a downward spiral.
One could cite the negative role of teacher unions, politically aspiring school board members, folks who did not want to be excellent teachers and who were then turned into cookie-cutter type adminsitrators by state college masters degree programs, influence of our degrading mod culture and social media, etc., etc., etc. - but for what good?
Any real fix, and removal of deleterious government influence, will have to start with local initiative and control - parents and citizens who care enough to do the work. It takes guts, and time, and persistence.
"It's for the well-being and safety of our students"
