In Finland, children don't start school classes until age 7. Before that, they play — sometimes freely, sometimes led by a teacher.

After that, there is no need to struggle to get your children into a good school, because all the schools are good.

Another key to Finland's great educational system is a very good welfare system that ensures that hardly any children live in poverty. That saves them from stress that could contort their minds later in life.

To a large extent, the cause of bad educational outcomes is (1) insufficient funds for the school and (2) poverty in children's lives. Thus, when the US and the UK construct excuses to put the blame on the teachers, the teachers are being used as scapegoats.