One of the problems getting in the way is all of the government funding that gets dumped into these schools. The free market isn't allowed to clear out the bad ones.
The free market has more of a chance to work in our universities than in our K-12 system. Universities have to compete with each other for students, while the public school system through high school is a monopoly with a captive enrollment.
High schools don't compete, because you're assigned to one.
This is one reason why American universities are considered world class, while the local school systems are pretty much a failure.