I worked with a woman whose kids went to an elementary school right by our work and she would pick them up and bring them over for about an hour until she got off from work. Her daughter was in third grade. One day I asked her what they did in school that day. She said they learned how to recycle pumpkins. She could barely read but she knew how to recycle a pumpkin.
I think when parents realize how poorly their children understand reading, writing, and arithmetic they will be outraged. In my children’s schools, if you aren’t in advanced classes (which would be “regular” classes to anyone over thirty), you’ve already been written off. The serious teachers and students are “advanced”, and nobody else gets much of an education.
One of my sons played sports, and stopped after one year because he couldn’t balance the homework with the practices/games. I asked how the other kids did it, and he said they had much less homework because they weren’t in advanced classes...