I agree about the lack of parental involvement. Even in the private schools you see it, though not as much as
some public. I don't like to paint with a broad brush. We have those parents that want to be "big fish in small pond"...they are the ones that don't do anything, because it's beneath them. Me, I don't want to "chair" anything, just tell me what needs to be done, and let's figure out how to do it.
When my oldest was going into kindergarten, I went to see the public school for our area, I cried! Then I looked up and saw that they were almost on "academic probation". (The school is doing better now, however, I'm not moving the kids. It's a strange distance thing that's hard to explain. Their public school is 18 miles in the opposite direction of where we work/ build. I have factored in gas cost into our private school equation). At that point, I started looking at private. I found the one I loved, then found out how much it cost and cried again. Then I found the one we are at. It's not fancy. My husband and I bust our butts to be able to afford it. Overall I like what I see, and this new "stupid Math" will change. The school is really good about listening to the parents. We just have to make enough noise.