I too think that standards are declining, but I think it is a concern common to many cultures.

I remember a conversation I had with my fellow students when I was in Montréal. There were about eight of us, half French and half English. They were concerned about the declining standards of education in general and French in particular. They noted that universities were starting to have French proficiency exams for their francophone students. They were surprised to learn that a lot of English universities are doing the same thing for the same reason. The universities do not believe in the product they recieve from high schools any more.

We would prefer to put our children in a private school, but there isn't a French one where we live. Luckily though, there is a French Catholic Public school about 10 miles away that they will be able to go to. Because we are in a predominately English area, the school will function more like a private school because there is a lot of parental involvement. The nuns teach the children respect and expect them to work hard.