I maintain that America's schooling system is the shittiest thing in the world.
I had a Korean exchange student in my class. He was 13, a sophomore, in Algebra 2, getting better grades than everyone else in the school, and was considered "average" in Korea. Like come on America.
Let's get our facts straight. It much better than most countries. However for being the quote on quote forerunner of the globe, standards would lead you to believe it should be better-- which it should.