The system works as it was planned. A slave/serf society depends on ruined minds and inculcating a dislike of learning amongst the Nouveau slaves.
“Bad Schools” are the feature, not a bug.
America is marching along the twisted, evil path that was trod by Mexico’s leaders long ago. They realized that an uneducated populace was a lot easier to run roughshod over and to rule.
Kicking out the Spaniards and the Catholic Church was, as far as the general populace was concerned, a one way ticket to palookaville. The Church was teaching everyone how to read and function as literate humans.