Hi Mathias — thanks for the comment. I’m with you on the need for a more applied approach to public education, and I think we have pieces of it, for example, in project-based and “experiential” learning.

But I have to disagree with your notion that a “competing system with a better design” necessarily or even typically wins the day. There’re a LOT of bad cherry pies out there, and a lot of them have staying power. Being really good surely helps, other things equal, but whether we’re talking about people, product, or services we decidedly don’t live in a meritocracy.