I was 38 when I entered college. One of my English lit instructors was also a friend. She told me that about 30% of her English 101 students were reading at a grade school level. It doesn’t make sense!
We have now created a society where diversity trumps excellence and where well read and spoken Black kids are beaten and ridiculed by their so called peers for "actin white"
This is what happens when you have a government run union led monopoly (you got the same results from Soviet agriculture or the UK NHS)
I used to teach in public schools and now teach on the undergraduate level so I can see just what your friend is talking about.