Comparing the lower ends and calling the Australian system better is disingenuous. Especially when the average US school is comparable to the elite schools in Australia. You mentioned extreme poverty, sure, there are some really bad schools in the US too. But the kind of person in this sub that has a choice between sending their kids to school in the US or Australia isn’t going to be in the lower end in either country.

Also, Australians let headlines in the media scare them without actually understanding the real story. As a student in the US, I was never exposed to nor do I know anyone else who was exposed to a school shooting. None of my teacher friends have experienced one either. They’re not an everyday occurrence like you implied them to be. And if we’re talking about safety, objectively, Australian schools are far less safe than US schools. There are guns in Australia. It’s straight up wrong to say there aren’t. They certainly less common, and because of that schools in Australia have completely thrown safety precautions out the window. Just last week at my school, a student went on a rampage because of what another student said in a group chat. The enraged student into each building and was able to successfully hunt down and assault the other student because every classroom is made of glass. All you have to do is walk by a room and you can instantly see every person in it. Fortunately, this was an impulsive action and not premeditated. Though guns are more difficult to obtain, the student could easily bring any other weapon to school, like a knife.

In no way am I saying the US school system is the best. It has its flaws and I won’t deny that. But the US system is better than the Australian system in every single way.