DamnYankee
Loyal to the end
My point, underscored by links to two articles you apparently are unwilling to read, is this:
The United States of America spends a lot of money on government day care centers and calls them schools.
The result?
Not so good.
Yet you claim that America's taxpayer-funded compulsory day care is "for the most part very successful"?
How so?
My wife and I both went to public schools, not just K-12 but college and grad school. Actually I went to a private grad school and was so unimpressed, I didn't bother to complete the degree. My son went through public K-12 public schools, and got the highest grade possible on 9 AP exams. He's now in a public university and expects to graduate early. Most of the people that I went to college with are just as successful then the ones I know who went private.
That's not to say that there aren't crappy school systems, because there certainly is. That's why I'm an advocate of the voucher system.