Raise the minimum wage and spend more to support poverty. So-called “war on poverty” is actually a support system for poverty.
I know, the OP is on literacy, not wages. But literacy is not a pre-requisite to “make it” in the USA. The education level in general has been trending downward for many years. Throwing more money at it has made things WORSE. People have to yearn to learn. Defund public education and save that 2.2 trillion. The results would not be any worse than they are now.
Illiterate, underclass parents will produce another generation of illiterate underclass children. The solution is to eliminate welfare, and have the underclass stop producing so many dysfunctional kids.
Meanwhile, encourage the middle class to produce more kids.
So eugenics is your answer?