IMO, that would qualify him to comment on the system. Unless you have read his book, your judgement sounds a little premature. I think we can all agree that our educational system is way down on the scale compared to other developed countries. His book was an indictment of systemic failure to produce great leadership qualities.
At best it was personal opinion. I didn't hear anything about a study or any data at all. Sounds like a guy who wasn't happy because they gave him too much homework. I didn't hear any ideas about how one goes about teaching "out of the box" thinking. In my opinion, learning Calculus teaches you problem solving, but I doubt that guy would agree with me.