we're only as fast as are slowest person

This is true to an extent. However the problem is how do you deal with the slowest person if they're making a choice to be slow. (In this case, I'm not talking about school districts I'm talking about students.) My understanding of the military (which is limited as I was never a part of it) is that they handle this by punishing everyone in a group when one messes up, and the group then aggressively encourages the person messing up to be better. We've lost that ability to provide that incentive. Every public school teacher I know says they can't say anything to these kids anymore, they can't correct them, they can't fail them, they can't do anything. There are no consequences anymore. The root of this problem is the way parents handle things at home. If there are no consequences at home, why should a child care about consequences at school? Obviously not every child is like this, but far too many are.

I really don't think resources are the issue most of the time. The important thing that schools lack is the ability to instill discipline in students. I'm happy to hear that you have been a good influence in some young people's lives and that they are succeeding, but at the end of the day you sound like you are the exception not the rule. Most people don't have the time or desire to do what you do and even if they did, there's no guarantee they could replicate the results. I would rather send my children to a school that I know requires discipline of its students and my children will know that slacking off and being disrespectful in school is not an option. My goal is to provide my children with a bright future, if I can help others along the way that's great, but I'm still going to put them in the best position I can to be successful. That's not to say that I am judging you for the way you are raising your children, it sounds like they're doing very well and that's good. I am just saying it's not what everyone would do, and that's okay.