The problem, to my mind, is applying "standards" to every child, regardless of what those standards are or who that child is in heart and mind and ability. The people who set those standards cannot know every single child who might be judged by them. Catering to the average (whether that average is determined by politicians, bureaucrats, psychologists, or the like) is, IMO, unsatisfactory and doing all children a disservice (even with systems in place to look out for children who are struggling, huge numbers of them still fall through the cracks). I don't know how to get around that and still have schools at all (whether public or private), but it's one of the main reasons I keep revisiting homeschool. The only instruction that I can imagine working for every child is one-on-one, and clearly that's not practical in our society. :(