"The good ole days weren't always good...

And tomorrow's not as bad as it seems."
Billy Joel
"Keeping the Faith"

Here's an interesting eye-opener from Slate:
Five Misconceptions About Teaching Math and Science

In brief, the myths are
1. American schools have been in decline over the past 30-40 years.
2. Low-performing students simply lack math/science aptitude.
3. Curriculum reform is the key to higher achievement.
4. We need massive recruiting efforts to attract college students to the profession.
5. Only top math/science students should be allowed to teach these subjects.

Refutation of the last one hits it out of the park. But the whole piece is well argued.