&gt;The whole discussion about it even led to some states abolishing the old system and introducing &quot;Gesamtschulen mit gymnasialer Oberstufe&quot;, essentially, the US middle&#x2F;high-school system.<p>What a mistake.  The German system may seem less &quot;fair&quot; to certain people, but at least it works.  In the US we&#x27;ve somehow come to the conclusion we can build a society that consists only of highly educated professionals and somehow the toilets will fix themselves.