discussion is good, as long as each side is not expecting a binary answer.
i think the engineer culture has its values and education should be more fair  -- that shall boost the talents count of native-born Americans when they enter the job market.
And I don't 100% agree that the so called "mediocrity" culture has no merits. You got to have fun and passions on things you are doing not just used to taking tasks and exams.
And a country is not a corporation, a corp can fire people when they are, hate to say, "useless", but a country has to do the nanny job, and bring each one on a good track.