The US could always outsource its education by hiring folks from India and China to do highly technical work. The wealthy class will still have access to higher education and eventually fill the adademic institutions with plutarchs. Soon the populist point of view will be historicly revised and slowly die. Of course society would take on a rather Orwellian police state quality. ;)

Public education is in certain peril as is with unfunded mandates and poor student results. The push to disband portions of public education or even eliminate it entirely is ludicrous.