The children didn't, but their parents did nothing to fix the problem and in most cases voted to continue to pass these same problems on to their children. Public school is scary-bad because them damn liberals are teaching our children to think and those judges prevent us from force-feeding our preferred cultural indoctrination, so let's starve the schools in the guise of cutting taxes and promoting "choice." Then let's all act surprised when our children get a shit education, when they lack qualifications/skills for jobs and continuing education, and businesses have to expand elsewhere to find an educated workforce. Then we can blame the failure upon the schools, greedy teachers unions, and administrative "bloat" and not admit to our own greed and short-sightedness. Of course the children of the elite will do just fine in private school, where they will get an education that might, almost, be as good as what any kid in Minnesota gets from public school.

When I was a midwestern public school kid of the 70s and 80s, Kansas was on par with the rest of the midwest in terms of general public education. After Brownback and his ilk have finished raping the state anyone with a child under the age of 14 should probably consider moving to a another state for the sake of their own child's future. This is not a problem that goes back generations, and the cause and solution are blatantly obvious.

Seriously, the one word response to your attempt to absolve them of any agency or responsibility for this situation is "Kansas."