And I argue this as an education system skeptic and college dropout myself.
Industrialization was raising pollution and standards of living and making it clear that a lack of education wasn't a healthy option - although partially driven by wrong reasons - paranoid anticatholicism that ignores basically all of European history of how much influence the church /actually/ has over secular power.
Even post WW2 industrialization the population was still at a high school diploma as an actual advantage but "optional".
We need more informed not less. Problematically the populace also needs more critical thinking and self guidance while there are many unhealthy attitudes towards learning.
Often they do try to put their bullshit in it but their hamhandedness in practice often backfires by adolescence - especially with their own twisted priorities and misrule related discontent.
And calculators have rendered arithmetic unnecessary for some time. The focus should be on how to use calculation for financial and technical purposes.
The point is that students who are not engaged themselves, and whose parents are not engaged enough to ensure that they go, will no longer make school less valuable for all by their very presence.