Bad Public Schools- Is it the Parents fault?

So I just finished out filling out private school financial aid applications, boy its such a process. Why can't there just be a good public school in my area? I mean really the middle school near my home is not good. The question I have is what are parents doing? Don't they care about their child's education? we should have classes on educating parents? Don't they know these kids are the future? It is so ridiculous to me that parents could'nt give a crap about their child's education. Are they so self-absorbed? Is it that they are drunks or drug addicts? I know people have to work and I work but when it comes to my daughter I will do whatever it takes to make sure she gets the best of everything within my means. I just don't get it. Don't parents know that these public middle schools would not be so bad if every parent took an active interest in their child's education? You can't blame the teachers... It's not their fault. They don't have the resources to teach correctly. They are just babysitters babysitting the kids who are a nuisance in class, they can only hope they teach 4 or 5 in a class of 30, its truly sad. Teachers get no respect and no one cares. Do you realize teachers went thorugh 4+ years of college, to come out making 40k a year? believe me teachers do not teach because of the money, they teach because they like to, and its so hard for them to do their job when you have kids in classrooms who are so disruptive and parents who dont even respect what they do. Pathetic!

Middle School- Private or Parochial?

I live in the Los Angeles Unified School District (one of the worst districts in the US) and my daughter goes to an LAUSD magnet school, which is one of the best schools in the LAUSD district with a total API last year of 863! My daughter will be entering middle school next year and I do not want her going to the LAUSD public middle school, whose total API was 737, so I'm looking into a private or parochial school. Private schools tend to be way too expensive with most being 20k a year (higher than a Cal State Education for 2 years of college). Some private schools give scholarships or grants to help with the tuition for financial hardship. I make good money but I think I would still qualify for some assistance. The problem is most private schools require you to put down the income of both parents, even if the parents are no longer together, and that is not fair considering my daughters fathers provides zero support. A parochial school is much less with tution at about 9k a year, but do i really want nuns teaching my child? I dont really know... but what I do know is that finding a school for her is an extremely stressing process.
The search continues...

Is ME time an option for single parents?

I am a single mom. I work full-time and my place of employment is a 45-minute drive each way. I wonder some days where I find the extra time to do everything I need to do. It is so hard some days. I wake up get my daughter ready, then me ready, drop her off at my sisters (who thankfully does me the favor of driving her to school), then I'm off to work. I work my 8 hours and rush back to pick up my daughter (who hates staying after-school, but sometimes lucky if my mom picks her up) by the time I get home it's 6pm. I like to cook her a fresh dinner and most of the time I do. Cooking dinner can be a long process I'm usually done at 7pm, she eats then I'm off to do laundry or clean-up while managing to help her with her homework. If she has something to do I run off and take her where she needs to go. I'm defintely not complaining, I do what I can, but I do find myself sheltering myself from friends. It's so hard to find the time to get together with them, since I feel there is such little time in my life. So little ME time. Is ME time even an option as a single parent?