I personally think that poor education in America is due to the American students’ perspective in academics.
(I am a high school student who went to a public school in South Korea and America and I am writing this because I also agree that poor education in America is a huge problem)
As proven by Milgram and Asche Experiments (conformity experiments; I don’t have time writing about this so you would have to search this), most of humans conform when their opinion is different from the masses’. Since so many American students think education is not important throughout life, it is “hard” for many students to feel passionate about education.
I, myself, have been taught in 2 different countries (US and South Korea)
I am South Korean and went to a public school in South Korea until I moved to United States.
Most of the South Korean students value academics (so much so that almost all students who are able to afford private education go to ELITE or other private academic institutions to get more education until 12 at night)
I would say my school here in US has a completely different environment compared to South Korean schools.
Many students here already gave up on striving for the best in academics. Most American students don’t try to understand why they got a D on an exam while the student next to them got an A. Unless teachers or the school itself teach how important academics really are and why students should strive for best grades, poor education of American students will continue.
The poor education in America is mostly due to the student’s perspective in academics (although I also admit that uneven wealth distribution accounts a huge root of this problem) and changing the influence of the masses(of students) are crucial to solve this problem.