The thing is, OpenGL shouldn't be a learning API, especially considering on many platforms (Mac, Android, iOS, Linux) its the lowest level way to get access to all vendor's graphics hardware. The primary customers of the API should be developers of large frameworks, engines and applications and it should be the lowest level abstraction that maximizes performance and compatibility. As GPU hardware becomes less fixed function and more complex the API will naturally become less beginner friendly.

Beginners today should be starting with a game engine or a creative coding framework. There is an abundance of high or mid level options (processing, three.js, Unity 3D, Unreal 4, openframeworks, ShaderToy, etc.) that allow people to play with and learn about different parts of the graphics pipeline while getting immediate and cool results.

Processing, for example, lets people do the equivalent of glVertex\glColor immediate mode calls with far less boiler plate than GLUT, SDL or GLFW, and it's easy for them to add and learn about the transform state, fixed function lighting, shaders, etc.