Can American schools be saved?

I'm skeptical.  It's been over four decades since the landmark report "A Nation at Risk" was released and American kids are dumber than ever.  If there was anybody more suitable for this heavy lift, it might be the liberal governor in the most liberal state in America.

Or not: "The state stepped in to fix the Boston Public Schools. Now it’s giving up. - There has been some progress. But the district failed to meet several of its goals, and the goals it did meet have not translated into sustained academic gains."

Everybody's got their two cents on how to fix American schools so here's mine: slash them to the bone.  And by that I mean schools should only focus on teaching kids how to read and write and do nothing else.

The mission creep of American schools is undeniable, and if we’re being brutally honest, too many schools have become one-stop social services hubs that also teach a little reading and math on the side. Instead of maintaining a focus on academics, schools are stretched to the breaking point, in part because of federal and state mandates and in part because they have been captured by an ideology that demands that every single student's need be met before any teaching or learning can occur. 

Schools used to be institutions of academic instruction, designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to become good citizens, prepared to meaningfully participate in a free society. But somewhere along the way, we decided that schools should also become social service hubs that cater to all the needs of students and families and aspire to fix societal problems that extend far beyond education. It seems fair —and even overdue —to seriously ask if it makes sense to continue using the word “school” to describe educational institutions that are also expected (or required!) to provide breakfast, lunch and snack, host immunization clinics, offer wrap-around health services, provide counseling, address declining mental health, disrupt the “school to prison pipeline,” supervise toothbrushing, teach financial literacy and host drag queen story hour. 

Massachusetts governor Maura Healey has the opportunity to capture the "only Nixon can go to China" moment: oppose the teachers union, fire the score of administrators, and help Bay State kids.  But she won't so we'll continue to move kids through this pipeline where they don't learn anything but at least their feelings aren't hurt.

There's a reason homeschooling is taking off in America.

Related - "The average college student today."