My response to the "old chestnut"...

I'm not sure what Jambo is referencing in his last, but I'd have to say his most memorable position on education that I can easily recall was given at great length on F. Ryan's patio very late one night after a case of High Life and a dozen brats on the grill:  the nationalization of the education system.

I'm not going to try and remember all the details, but it was basically a call for the Federalization of all teachers, and thus all curriculums, into one homogeneous body.  No more local school boards, only an education system as far flung and locally focused as any post office, DoAg office, or Federal building.

I personally hope this isn't what Jambo was referring to.  I don't think this is the answer.  Perhaps I have it wrong, and Jambo wasn't talking about this.  It was discussed in person, and not written down (even we weren't taking "minutes" during these gatherings), and alcohol was an ingredient in all these get-togethers.

To answer Jambo's question, I think the demise of the education system in this nation began with the institution of national education standards via Carter's Department of Education. In taking the effort to educate our children out of the hands of local school boards and placing it in the hands of Washington bureaucrats, we have simply surrendered the right to educate our kids to a cookie-cutter system that is trying to force ALL kids into the same model.  Those that fit in and comply are successful, and those that do not are labelled as "failures" or "problems" and left behind (regardless of Bush's NCLB Act).

More importantly, we (as parents and educators) see that the responsibility for education has been taken from us, and the consequences for failure are left to society to fix.  "We" are no longer the primary educators of our children, the "state" is.  Those few of us that take the responsibility seriously (home schoolers, charter schoolers, etc) are labelled as "fringe" elements of society and told we are damaging our kids.  We are "non compliers" who actively work to undermine the system, not concerned parents looking to do the best for our kids.

Furthermore, the death of American education is moved further towards its terminus by a nation-wide teacher's union (or unions) that force local school boards to make payroll and benefits the largest expense in any annual budget each and every year.  Last year, in my own local school district, payroll and benefits accounted for 68% of every dollar spent in the district, and that is slated to go up another 2% next year.  When the school board voted to reduce the number of teachers, the unions sued and won... which forced the district to keep 32 teachers on the payroll, with benefits, even though they weren't needed to teach the kids.  This "added" expense will now force the district to consider either closing an actual school (and forcing hundreds of kids to longer bus commutes and far larger class rooms) OR ending very nearly ALL extracurricular activities such as band, theater, robotics club, sports et al.  So, in order to maintain the number of dues-paying teachers within the district, my school board will cut football, band, and the theater classes (among others) to the point that only those kids that can PAY for their equipment upfront will be allowed to participate.  That's an EXTRA $550 a year for a football student, $600 for a band student, and $350 for a drama student.

The long and short of it is simply this (for me):

The Department of Education adds a tax to my income that means I'm putting my money into the education of children that do not live in my area.  I'm paying for schools and teachers on the other side of the country, as well as for schools and teachers in my own district.  I'm not opposed to paying the taxes, but let me take the money that I would be paying the Education Department and let me put it towards my own district.  Let everyone else do the same thing.

I'm running out of time, so I'll end here.  Let me know what you think.