So much depends on the kid. We were living in France when our first was born, but one reason we chose to move back to the States was that the French school system (like most European systems) is quite rigid. Kids are assessed early on for their academic aptitude, and those who don’t make the cut are shunted off onto a trade school track (I think this happens around age 15). Those who continue on in the direction of college have to pass the monstrous Baccalaureate exam at age 18, or that’s the end of the road.
Kids who perform well on tests and fit into the standard academic mold leave this system with an excellent education, but “late bloomers” or kids with unconventional learning styles or kids who blow tests under pressure will never even make it to college. As it turned out, our kids would have done fine in that environment, but we knew many very smart people who had been spat out of the French school system and had no alternative but to lock themselves into some trade at the age of 15. That’s just too young to know what you want to do with your life
But our kids both had very good experiences at their schools here in the Chicago suburbs. The problem in the States, of course, is the disparity in the quality of schools from one community to the next. While our guys enjoyed good facilities, great teachers, and stimulating curricula and transitioned to college without a hitch, a few miles away in the city, public schools are a last resort, and only about half of freshmen will actually graduate high school.