Is American Education a joke? Are the 'education authorities' having a laugh?

As my children go through the 'standard' American education curriculum (in PA), i am stunned and shocked at what I am seeing. In a nutshell, what I am seeing is that high school kids are being taught things there is a 99.9% chance they will NEVER look at again after school, never mind they wont use it in their life. They are being 'taught' Algebra, Trigonometry, Geometry, the Metric system (which is not even used in the USA!), and other "useless' subjects. Not REAL subjects like woodwork, home electronics, baking and cooking. Only recently, they have introduced a personal finance, so they can count their wages after graduation. I have tried to find out, to no avail, who is responsible - and accountable - for the sorry state of education. No one will admit to knowing, and some just don't know. Even the DoE gave me a vague response that 'there is a group, drawn from different walks of life, who come together and decide on the curriculum'. No names of course, nor identifiers. So, on appearances, we have a messed up education system that is implemented by faceless, nameless people, and nobody knows who they are nor where they came from? Yet, everyone just sends their kids out to be 'indoctrinated' into this system without raising so much a s a few pertinent questions? Are you freaking kidding me!?

It is very frustrating and irritating but it does answer a lot of questions about the state of America today, as a result of this "education"!

So, who can tell me why is the education system SO bad and who do we hold accountable for this sorry, sad state of affairs?