School might save a few kids who weren't gonna make it past the intellectual inheritance that their parents gave them, but for the most part public school learning is some of the most boring, basest, catered to the lowest common denominator, soul crushing form of learning, done by teens who are pulsing with energy that is better smashed against drugs, skateboarding, partying, MTV, sex and what not then the blackboard. Most kids watch a shit ton of TV, play a bunch of video games, don't read and probably rarely attend cultural events. They don't do great on standardized test compared to some other cultures, and we look to blame teachers, class sizes, TV, Video games, Sex, Drugs ect. But if the kid loved learning from and early age the kid would continue to pursue knowledge for knoledge sake while it did all the other things that kids love to do that I have listed above.