In America tiered schools are either shunned or downright illegal as they tend to cross racial boundaries and get a district into court. One concept I tend to favor is Bush's voucher concept. It's, unfortunately, one he couldn't push through his own rubber stamp administration, maybe he didn't push hard enough. It was a good idea. I generally hate welfare programs, but I'd rather education coupons be handed out than anything else. California has a good system in most areas. Public schools, low cost or no cost adult education centers (night school), low cost trade centers, low cost community colleges that take anyone over 18, magnet schools, charter schools. Florida now offers free virtual school on computer that gives a Florida diploma if you covered the correct materials. Homeschooling is another good option that's proving to work quite well, unfortunately there should be a minimalist voucher or tax incentive for low income families. Any homeschool system approved by the Federal Government for student loans should qualify for a partial tax deduction for any household making under $25,000 a year gross. The most expensive programs are only $2,000 or so a year. That amounts to only $100 in tax savings. There is limited room for abuse here. We talking about some piece of paper that can be traded for Penn Foster courses or text books from Borders. There's not much of a black market for that, like there is for cheese coupons or food stamps. If a voucher is only useful for $15 off on any Math text book it won't be easy to sell those vouchers for cash so you can buy beer.