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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]After a few years of reading DCUM and reading blogs written by American moms with school aged children, I can say unequivocally that the Canadian school system is superior. You send your child to whatever public school you are zoned for, you don't have to wait in line to apply, you don't have to deal with testing your 3 year old or whatever people have to do to get in to elementary schools, and we all end up smart  the system works.[/quote]

You are getting a really skewed picture of the typical American school system.  In most of the country, kids go to whatever school they are zoned for.  The schools are typically located in the neighborhood.   My children walk or bike to school every day.  All the kids in our neighborhood go to the same elementary, middle, and high schools.  I only know of two or three kids who are in private schools and that is only for religious reasons.  Our public schools are excellent.  There is no lottery.  No charter.  No stress.  You just go to the school in your neighborhood.  (Obviously we aren't in D.C. anymore.)

We have literally lived all over this country and overseas. D.C. is the only place we've ever lived where schools were even an issue.[/quote]

You are simplifying the situation by painting the entire country with the same brush. That would be like me going to Montreal and then coming back to the US and telling everyone that Canadians are a bunch of French wannabes. Go to rural America: the Midwest, the South, the Rocky Mountains and you will see less of the mentality you referenced above. 
Although the dynamic you referenced does exist, you need to separate and understand the different drivers. One dynamic which drives this push for a strong education (private schools, charter schools and magnet schools) is that the US has a culture of bias. These biases tend to negatively impact racial, ethnic and religious minorities and immigrants. Education has always been one way to mitigate biases against the above groups. As such, parents from these groups who want their kids to succeed tend to make sure that they have access to good schools so that the same kids can access the best colleges and universities. That is why if you ever visit one of the elite DC-area schools, you will see families who probably can't afford the $40,000 annual cost to attend these schools. These families will use the schools’ financial aid to enroll their kids. One of the benefits of US culture (a culture which everyone on this pages knocks), which does not exist in other countries, is that these same schools recognize the value in having a racially and economically diverse student body. They also recognize the importance of providing access to all students. Follow the progression of Jewish, Korean and other immigrant groups and you will see a drive to excel in education. This same dynamic drives the elite to push their kids so that their kids have the same opportunities that the parents had. With a more competitive landscape, kids can no longer get by on the family name alone. 
Again, you can knock our system but it is a system that has and will likely to continue to keep us globally competitive.
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