Believe me, I hear you Lil. I'm here in the trenches trying to improve science education by doing a LOT of outreach activities, and it is really depressing how far it has fallen since I was in school. On the other hand, teachers are doing a better job at pedagogy than they used to (less chalk-and-talk, more hands-on). I just wish the education departments at most universities would require more content classes for their teachers.
Education is a multi-faceted problem, from "dumbing down" to limited resources, to overworked school teachers, to overworked kids, to overworked parents, to universities being run like a business where numbers of students are more important than quality of education. Don't get me started ...
"Recollect me darlin, raise me to your lips, two undernourished egos, four rotating hips"
