Jonah’s column is spot on: I think the entire rationale for locally funded public education has vanished. America spends more per pupil than any advanced nation other than Switzerland, and at least the Swiss have something to show for it. By any reasonable audit, at least a third of the US education budget is entirely wasted.

On the other hand, France has a supposedly excellent education system but what do they have to show for it? Worse economic performance and worse unemployment. Given the correlation between the growth of the American economy and the lousiness of the American school system, maybe education is entirely irrelevant to national well-being. Or is there some subtle equilibrium dependent on dumbed down boards of native-born directors still being just smart enough to know which immigrant CEO to hire?