What is the bigest problem for education?

"Scott, I believe the biggest problem in education today is 'Sesame Street'." I immediately responded with a profound, "Huh?"

Calmly my former educator asked me, "Scott, who taught you your ABC's?"

I answered truthfully, "Well, my mother and my grandmother."

"Of course," she said. "However, for the past thirty years, young people have been taught their ABC's by Big Bird, and Pert and Ernie. That means they arrive on the steps of this school for their very first day of formal instruction expecting to be entertained as they are educated."

From the Collapse of Distinction by Scott McKain

I'll grant that this is a problem.

I also think that the current funding method for education is a bigger problem. The property tax restrictions for MA is creating such a problem for education that we may never "fix it". In the mean time, the children coming through the school system are being deprived of the competitive edge they could have with better funding.