The schools are the cause of our difficulties in the global economy. The schools are caught in the stranglehold of big government, big bureaucracy, big unions.
Schools are repressive, boring, terminally uncool places.
In spite of dangerous, dulling, or degrading conditions, Teacher X triumphs heroically to teach, to rescue, to redeem. In spite of dangerous, dulling, or degrading conditions, Student X triumphs heroically to learn, to achieve, to go to Harvard. We tell these stories with great frequency, via popular culture, in news media, in political address. They have achieved the cultural status of the accepted narrative, folk wisdom, the way things are. There is some truth to be found in these common school tales.