[mykwyner]

Sadly, the monoglot is not the illiterate of today. There are plenty of plain old illiterate-in-their-native-language illiterates keeping me busy around the clock here in the US.

I am an advocate of the pedagogical theory that says we should teach less, but teach it more thoroughly. Some people call this "dumbing down" the curriculum; I call it "smarting up" the school system. Mandatory classes should only teach the things that are mandatory for a citizen in your society. This not only ensures that all students are literate and numerate, it allows "advanced" students to take challenging classes that are not slowed down by students who are forced to be there.