Where is the breakdown?

I keep seeing posts here expressing significant dissatisfaction with many aspects of our K-12 education system. I'm a bit surprised that this is so frequently expressed by teachers too. Attendance, discipline, minimum proficiency, administration, parents, etc. I would think everyone agreed that attendance and discipline and minimum proficiency standards need to be enforced, so where is the breakdown?

What are the 3 or 4 main problems facing our K-12 education system, what do you think are their causes, and what solutions do you propose?