One of the points made constantly by our Founders is that there is no way that a Republic like ours can long stand, without an educated electorate.
The Left realized this back in the dark days of their rise to prominence in the Sixties.
That is why their assault on our public education system--a system long held as the cornerstone of our success as a Free Republic--was so essential to their gaining power.
When the Left sees the "failure" of public education, they don't see it as a "bad thing," but as a good thing. They see their plan working. They see themselves, the "Alphas" of the "Brave New World," making sure that the "Betas," "Gammas," and so on down the line are kept stupid and in their place, so that their elite class can reign unfettered by TRUE Republican principles.
But I would also point out that the presence and success of things like Free Republic, Rush Limbaugh's program, and many other such alternative sources of education, are signs that the Founders wrought far better than they knew.
I remember my mother, a "paleo-conservative" before the word was ever coined, being so glad to discover the great educational materials from The Heritage Foundation back in the 70s. She said at the time "these are the things that they used to teach us in school back in the Fifties. I thought they had all become exinct."
The flame still burns; but we have to admit and understand that there is no homogeneity any longer. The principles of our Republic, which were once unquestioned and revered by nearly all, have powerful and determined enemies, even in government.
Sen. Joe McCarthy was more right than he ever knew (which is one reason why he is placed third or fourth on the list behind Hitler, etc., on the list of those publicly reviled in our day).
We have to keep fighting, and I for one am very glad that resources like FR exist to keep the flame bright.