What parts of the school system in Antelope were different than the school system in Leechfield?

In Antelope, the school Mary attended had only one classroom, which serviced all the children in the school. Students were encouraged to "work at their own pace," which involved little interaction with the teacher as the students diligently figured out what they could from massive envelopes of exercises. Once, when Mary was feeling emboldened, she walked into the teacher's lounge to confront them about their laziness, and found they all were sitting around smoking and eating cake.