In the early 1800s, Pierre Samuel Dupont, an influential French citizen who helped Thomas Jefferson negotiate for the Louisiana Purchase, came to America and surveyed education here. He found that most young Americans could read, write, and "cipher" (do arithmetic), and that Americans of all ages could and did read the Bible. He estimated that fewer than four Americans in a thousand were unable to write neatly and legibly.

people were fine before the advent of the nanny state in 1933.

The federal department of education was created in 1867. Strange how illiteracy decreased with the expansion of schools

I'd say the basic introduction to liberal arts and natural sciences are much better arguments for mandatory education than literacy rates.

(I've been reading http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=486574 )