> A disturbing new trend that appears to be developing is the
> abandonment of serious eduction for the masses (in the US). Obama's
> threat to close down "underperforming" schools suggests the ruling
> class have decided a skilled, educated workforce is no longer need
> on a large scale. What is needed is gas station attendants and
> latte-makers.
No longer needed? The U. S. labor force has never needed large number of skilled, educated workers. Obama goes on and on about everyone going to college, but the brutal reality is that most of the job openings in the U. S. are low-wage jobs that only require on the job training. Check out the BLS labor projections: typically about 20 of the 25 jobs with the most projected job openings require little or no college education. (Note that you need to ignore the data about percentage growth in job openings in a particular profession; if there are only 3 openings in a fancy pants profession this year and 6 next year, you have 100% growth, but it's irrelevant to understanding where the bulk of the job openings are in the U. S. economy.)
I don't think that the ruling class "decided" that these low-paid jobs are the ones that are needed; rather, our social system requires those low-paid jobs for our society to function. The political problem here is that these professions do not pay living wages. More people getting more formal education does not solve the problem; if Obama had his fondest wish granted and all U. S. adults earned a college degree, we'd just have lots of low-paid janitors, security guards, and restaurant workers with college degrees.
Miles