You make some excellent observations.
My feelings about my watered down education is I learned in my undergrad work what I should have learned in HS, my grad work, what I should have learned as an undergrad, and that was over 20 years ago.
Generally speaking, if I read a book about literary criticism or grammar, I usually look for authors who were educated before the 50s or for texts written before then.
There was another thread on this site about Colorado students sexting. Educators are more concerned with children’s sexuality than their education. They think many of our difficulties stem from our sense or perceptions of sexuality. Had they been taught critical thinking/classic logic and the value of a solid sense of virtue along with some basic reading and math skills, I do not believe we would be reading such things.
I am proud of our youngest daughter. Unfortunately, she got pregnant in High School so she and her boyfriend got married and had to start thinking about consequences and responsibilities. First she went to vocational school to learn a skill where she would make more than minimum wage. Then while working she earned an associated degree in accounting taking night classes at a local Community College. Then she got a better job and worked while she earned a higher degree in accounting at a local University. She still has some student loan debt but it is minimal compared to most graduates.
After she received her baccalaureate in accounting she was offered a job with the state. She tried that for six months but did not like the atmosphere. Her former employer offered her a better position as their human resources director and she took that. So it is a little funny that she got the degree in accounting and now she is not really using it, but I feel that along the way she did pick up some of what we used to regard as the goal of a liberal arts education. I think her circumstances and responsibilities forced her not to slack off like most of the kids I know who are currently going to universities and colleges.
Sometimes I feel a little bad that my wife and I didn’t coddle her more after she got off track. She has always been very strong willed. Unfortunately, although they tried her first marriage ended in divorce. We did do a lot of baby sitting and we gave her a used car which I maintained and tried to make sure she had what she needed. She was always a very smart girl and we were glad that she wanted to keep our grandson after she got pregnant. He is a very good kid who is now fourteen. I think that working and having responsibilities while going to school gave her more incentive to keep her eye on the ball.