Free public education is provided by the states with block grant assistance by the federal government. Americans spend about 6% of GDP ($1T per year) on education but it never seems to be enough. This level of spending ranks 37^th worldwide and is in the upper third of OECD nations. In achievement the US ranks at the middle of the OECD countries overall and near the bottom in mathematics.

In 2011, 62 million Americans attended primary and secondary schools (K-12). Another 24 million were in college. 10 million Americans were employed by schools at all levels, half of these are teachers. Richer Americans opt out of public education and support a robust system of parochial and private schools serving about 10% of the kids. Approximately 1 million students opt for homeschooling. Some governments have begun to explore vouchers and charter schools as an alternative to traditional public schools.

The US has been unable to reverse a decline in education noted in a 1983 federal study entitled “A Nation at Risk.” The study found, nearly forty percent of 17 year olds could not successfully "draw inferences from written material," and "only one-fifth can write a persuasive essay; and only one-third can solve a mathematics problem requiring several steps."  The $100B/year US Department of Education (DoED or ED) created in 1980 has been ineffective in improving these results.

Racial integration dramatically changed the public schools in the 1960’s and remains a core issue affecting American education.

The impact of computer based education offers promise for the future, but so far, computer based learning technology although widely deployed in business and industry has had little impact on formal education.