[ALawPoker]

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I agree. But bear in mind that the US is largely decentralized - states and even local counties have more autonomy than other countries.

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So what. My point was that centralization will have harsher effects when there is less homogeneity, and you agree. Is it really impossible that this disadvantage could outweigh the relative lack of centralization?

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I don't see how your point is relevant to the superiority of private schools - they'll have to cater to diverse backgrounds as well.

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My point, very basically, is just that there exist countless differences between different societies, all with slightly different social structures, norms, lifestyles, and laws. And so, simply comparing broad results does not offer much insight into whether or not "centralization" works better than "decentralization."

I know nothing about how school systems are structured, not even in the US, let alone other countries. So I'm just taking your word for it that the US is less centralized than other systems. But, it seems fairly obvious to me that the US is a large country with varying interests. So just because "Florida" might have some sort of autonomy to make education decisions, I don't see how this means what you want it to mean. "Decentralized" seems like am awfully pointless term when you are comparing a large heterogeneous country to smaller, more homogeneous ones.

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This is the crux of all the ACer arguments in this thread - a belief that government is the root of all evil and only makes things worse. It doesn't matter what data I present

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You seem to wish the belief was whimsical. You should consider that maybe the information you present doesn't actually prove what you'd like it to prove even if you yell about it really loud.