> We have great home school programs here, and with our family members we have the education and qualifications to teach most of the core subjects (lots of retired teachers in our extended family).

These days you can find online courses and tutors. Lots of one to one adult attention helps a lot but kids can teach themselves a lot too. One problem is qualifications. Here in the UK our kids can just do the same exams school kids do. I think its more complicated in the US?

I think a large part of the problem with schools (and this is why its a problem across many countries) is a greater focus on metrics.

Schools have never been efficient with kids time.