If I could run schools to follow actual research conducted by real experts for what makes an effective learning environment:
Super spartan administration whose main job is to deal with the shitty public so teachers don't have to waste a bunch of time or do unnecessary emotional labor.
Administrators are never paid more than a teacher (nobody at the top of any of our systems does more important work than whoever does the primary labor—I’m not completely convinced any school actually needs a principal in the same way I know that no business on earth needs a CEO).
Facilities staff make living wages.
Class sizes that match current research on maximum class size for effective teaching on those subjects.
Teachers have academic freedom that can't be obstructed by religious goons with no background in education who take over school boards because teachers are the content experts who should have free reign to teach current material in their field.
Educators who live within walking distance of the school are given hiring priority.
A support team for each classroom (instead of a bloated top-down structure, the money and resources are placed where learning happens).
No cops on campus. "Security" should only be performed by people with a degree in education, because an educator’s goals aren’t the same as a cop’s goals (and cops really don’t have the background or training to interact with kids—especially in a middle or high school environment). Cops exist for social control, making arrests, and ruining the lives of whomever they don’t personally like. Educators are there to help people learn, which means kids need to make mistakes without going to jail.
Only students who live within a 20 minute walk are enrolled in the school if it’s in a city—none of that rich people driving their kids across town to enroll in higher performing schools business: you support your actual community or move to a different one.
Stop funding schools with property tax and replace funding with something that makes objective sense.
Lots of recess and breaks between classes that are long enough that students can amble to a locker before meandering to class instead of urgently rushing around while hauling all their shit in a bag.
Mimics college: no more than four academic classes per quarter.
Puts the focus on learning instead of enforcing weird behavioral norms—Who gives a shit if a kid wears a hat in the classroom? Nobody whose mind is on more important things.