You're part of the problem and know nothing of the shift that these teachers have seen over the last 30 years.

I've experienced terrible teachers (especially math teachers) and had to teach myself.

I've seen good schools crumble due to terrible policies and teachers.

You're enabling the problem by apologizing for these poor performing teachers.

Literally all of 8th grade was learning how to count to 10 in other languages and some stupid cross-stitching art. In Math!!!

Luckily I learned through programming on my own time, but once you're behind from one shitty math teacher, it's hard to catch up.

Lol kids are in school 30+ hours a week. When you look at the basic curricula they have to learn it is 99% on the school if it cannot be taught in that time frame, even if the kid is going home to a 4 hour shift in the slave labor camps and only ghouls for parents.