What influenced the collapse in American education?

There is no standardized system of education in the USA. There are more than 13,000 individual school districts which make most educational decisions. Some of those districts do not quite well. Many are doing pretty well. Most drops in the middle someplace. The school district is also in any case a product of the culture from which the students come. A school that is "failing" can be defined as having a high drop-out rate for students, low standardized test scores, school violence, gang recruitment, drugs, high teenage pregnancy rates, etc ... In most cases, if a school is like that indoors, the neighborhood around is like that outdoors.