More students are getting college degrees. Dropout rates continue to decline, and they don't have much decline left. Maybe, though in general they don't look like it to me. Probably, but that wouldn't have much to do with NAEP and SAT scores. But all means all today.
Private schools are a vital part of the mix.
But public education in America today is by no means a disaster. It is an unprecedented, and noble, undertaking. Randy Brown writes a personal column for the editorial page on Sundays.