Both from the practical aspect of better educated people and the cultural enrichment we will all share. To understand education is to focus first on the fact that the education in the primary grades gives our children the tools they need through life. A computer is not a tool. It is a tool box. The programs are the tools we, as adults, use to accomplish our goals.
Education is the same way.
We teach children to read. Reading, a skill, is like a tool. It helps the child who comes face to face with a book. With the ability to read, the child will learn from that book. Otherwise, education is like throwing a child into the water and saying.