Excellent post, and some very good tidbits.

I've said it before, no, buildings will not fix the education system but it helps. Before you can fix anything else, you have to have an environment that can foster that. Let's talk sports logic here. Before a program can attract the best athletes, what do they do? They have to have the facilities. When people are talking about recruited, where do they go? To the best environment, where they can be ahead of the curve. Where they get exposure, press, and have coaches, equipment, etc that can make them the best. Now apply that to the education system. Is having the best of the best going to make the lowest kid in the class great? No its not. What it is doing though is putting the others at a level field, maybe even ahead of some, where they can improve, where they don't feel like its prison. Yes nice buildings are nice. Who wouldn't rather ride around in a nice vehicle or live in a nice house as opposed to a piece of junk. It will not fix the system but as of now, the buildings can't. Think of it in old cars. If you have a great, beautiful old car that has been taken care of from the time it was got, yes, its probably worth the money to keep it fixed up. If you find one thats torn apart, nothing really in it worth saving, the engine shot, the interior shot, etc, it will cost you more to fix than its worth. If you have unlimited money, then sure it might be a nice project, and no doubt, if you have the unlimited money its probably got value to do, but the amount of time, money and work it requires, would you want to do it, or would it be more sensible to buy a new car? Everybody would love to have a classic car, but not everybody can afford it, or even if you can afford it, is the risk/reward worth it, compared to something you can count on.