One of the problems is dealing with students who don't have much of a drive to learn. Educators can bribe them with social opportunities and sports so that these students do reluctantly acquire some reading and math while sitting at the desk. But the motivation is not exactly in the right place. There is a limit to what can be accomplished.

And then there is the issue of what should be taught at school. Time is limited, but good topics for life are not.

And then, especially in the USA, there are political forces that insist on teaching things that really are not useful in the modern world, such USA's sanitized history.

No easy solution.