Comparing Education Systems

There was a great article in The Economist magazine a couple of weeks ago that really reinforced some of our conclusions from our Singapore trip. The article discusses a report made by a consultancy group that made an international comparison of educational systems. Why do some countries consistently do so well? Is it about money or culture?
The article suggests that a lot of success is due to the kinds of people that become teachers. Do we take our best and brightest and make them teachers in the US?