Such things are ten to twenty times more efficient today than they were 40 years ago. Computers are thousands of times more powerful than they were in the 1950s. With the advancements made in communication technology, children should be learning much more than their parents and grandparents did. Literacy levels should be much higher than they were, and so should SAT scores. The reason isn't hard to discover.
Private companies provide communication technology but government dominates education.
As long as that's the case, no significant improvement is possible. If so, all the more reason to keep it away from government. One could live without knowing how to read but no one can live without food. The food stores would become what the schools have become. Political battles would decide which foods are available.