If I may allow myself to be bold, Lemur, I'll point at the two largest obstacles in the US system as I see it:

1. The school board system where parents have a say.
2. The constant evaluation OF learning.

None of these two are as far as I know part of the left/right divide, so honestly, I don't believe this is a partisan issue.

I also believe it is a myth that the education system is "broken" or any of the other terms people like to fling at it. I actually believe it is moving forward nicely. But then again, I am an optimist by nature....

To expand on the points above:

Number one is because it gives plenty of people who have no idea what they're talking direct power. There is no other field than education where the incompetent have such power over the incompetent. Democracy gives us better solutions, but only when we make larger, strategic and more general decisions, not through micro-management. For example, we can all chip in on whether or not to invade Iraq, but can you imagine a situation where a board of civilians with no military training overseeing the orders of a captain in the field, and changing them when they feel like it? No, of course not, that would be ridiculous. Just as ridiculous as parents controlling the classrooms is.

Number two is evaluation OF learning instead of FOR learning. Almost every study that measures the effect of various things to increase learning, lists evaluation for learning as number one, usually with a big margin on number two. That it is what we should do is almost unquestionable.