My fantasy is to revamp the school system from the ground up, and have them more as resource centers. No grades -- if you have mastered the materials, you move on. Have different types of instruction, so if you don't get it with this approach, you can try that approach. Have lab equipment available, maybe with a resource facilitator who can make sure things are used appropriately. (That would be a useful resource for homeschoolers, btw!)
I would even suggest no upper age limit. As things stand, if you are disinterested in learning in your teens, and then wise up later, you have to pay to get what you didn't get before. We could improve the whole society if we opened schools to any who can benefit from them -- so, if a 50 yr old wanted to go back and take that math class (or whatever) that they skipped school to avoid, they can still learn it.
