Having spent the past 13 years of my life in the american education system I can tell you first hand how much it sucks. Now the state says they are upping their standards, first with mandatory state-wide testing that started several several years ago, now they want to start teaching more "core" subjects which includes requiring an extra year of math in high school.
Being a senior my class is the last before these changes go into full effect. I can tell you they wont work though, because it isn't the number of years you're in a subject but rather the fact that the curriculum always blows. Math especially since they tend to "teach" us all this bullshit and yet provide no practical applications for it.
A third of my senior class, or over 105 students are currently failing at least one subject they require for graduation. Maybe we're just a bunch of slacking stoners.