Income distribution should also be examined. As more and more parents have to work more jobs or longer hours to make ends meet they have less time to spend supporting their children's education. There are no children with only one parent. We all have two. For a variety of reasons some struggle to raise children alone or with limited help and support.  What we value and spend our money on makes a difference.  Do we spend on music, or art lessons or cable TV and guns? The amount of time spent on social media probably adds to the mix. Are people reading to their children or checking social media? Should we reexamine the tests, who produces them, and why we spend such exorbitant amounts on them?  Would we be better off beefing up our music and art or having smaller class sizes?  The issue is complex but not more difficult than developing the atomic bomb or putting a person on the moon.