Education

American public education is operated by state and local governments, regulated by the United States Department of Education through restrictions on federal grants. In most states, children are required to attend school from the age of six or seven (generally, kindergarten or first grade) until they turn 18 (generally bringing them through twelfth grade, the end of high school); some states allow students to leave school at 16 or 17.About 12% of children are enrolled in parochial or nonsectarian private schools. Just over 2% of children arehomeschooled. The US spends more on education per student than any nation in the world.