“Gummint” schools are largely “prisons for kids,” but there can be bright spots. . .
Of all the classes I had in high school, two “classes” have proven to be the most _personably_ valuable, long term, and both for similar reasons. I was lost in my first year of algebra, thanks largely to a disaffection stemming from ghastly experiences with ‘new math.” (Before exposure to that abomination of “edumacationist” experimentation, I kinda enjoyed math.) Thankfully, a sophomore year teacher who just loved math and teaching it resurrected a dead enjoyment of math.
And then there was band. I learned more appreciation of music from simply rehearsing and playing the works we were exposed to than in all my college classes combined. I can still hear many of those pieces “between my ears.”
And the math classes and music worked well together in forming logic chains in my head, and those served me well in appreciating and seeing links in language, history, and many other fields. Of course, the fact that I simply ignored classes when they became boring and substituted voracious reading also helped forge those “chains of reason.”
So, “gummint” schools were not a total waste of time. . . as long as I managed to ignore the boring parts. (Example: teachers who taught “from the book” when I had already read through the textbook before the first week passed. Boring.)
