Gatto's book Dumbing Us Down expands on the ideas of this essay and argues his side quite effectively. His ideas are based on his multiple decades as a successful schoolteacher and are well-supported by history. You don't have to agree with them, but you seem to be dismissing them too quickly and casually.
For example, here's a quote from Dumbing Us Down that I found persuasive:
"We had school, but not too much of it, and only as much as an individual wanted. People learned to read, write, and do arithmetic just fine anyway; there are some studies that suggest literacy at the time of the American Revolution, at least for non-slaves on the Eastern seaboard, was close to total. Thomas Paine's Common Sense sold 600,000 copies to a population of 3,000,000, twenty percent of whom were slaves, and fifty percent indentured servants."
For example, here's a quote from Dumbing Us Down that I found persuasive:
"We had school, but not too much of it, and only as much as an individual wanted. People learned to read, write, and do arithmetic just fine anyway; there are some studies that suggest literacy at the time of the American Revolution, at least for non-slaves on the Eastern seaboard, was close to total. Thomas Paine's Common Sense sold 600,000 copies to a population of 3,000,000, twenty percent of whom were slaves, and fifty percent indentured servants."