Public education is a nessesity. Education is a positive for all of society. The more knowledgably society is, the better off it is. It can't know too much. As far as "indoctorination" goes, it is the uneducated that are easily manipulated and decieved.

"No child left behind" has turned into "No child gets ahead," the current program needs to be scraped and redone. The fundemental concept is good, but the devil in the details has made it crap. It needs to be independent of standard education. If someone falls behind, instead of slowing down everyone else, the slower student should go into and alternative education style to help him/her catch up to the others (without them having to wait for that individual).

Teachers should never ever be judged on GPA or test scores or anything that they have control over. Other wise teachers will become softer and pass kids that should fail just so they can look better. Teachers need to be graded on what their students actually know. Meaning tests not administered or graded by the teachers, and thoughs tests should be basic essay questions and critical thinking questions (or in math, multi-step show your work questions).

Maybe something like "explain the conditions that led up to the revolutionary war with England" and grade not based on how close it matches with a pre-writen answer, but how well they use evidence to support their thoughts.

__________________
Set your destination with your heart, get there with your mind.

"The wisest men follow their own direction." - Euripides