Many practical people say the situation is hopeless. The Education Establishment controls the country's public schools with an unyielding grip.
Unfortunately, these educrats seem to be socialist ideologues. (That's not surprising as their Godfather--that is, John Dewey--was a socialist ideologue.) They are obsessed with social engineering, not academic gains. The school is for them a laboratory where they can design the brave new child that will populate their Brave New World. Whether these new children can read, write, or do arithmetic does not seem to be a major concern.