I think you're very wrong. Rote memorization of empty facts doesn't give you the tools to make any decisions, unless you're a contestant on Jeopardy. Kids need to learn processes - understand how things work, not just what they've done. Understanding the processes that affect the world around you is what gives you the tools to predict the outcome of your actions, and therefore make valid decisions.

What good is it to know about dead kings and composers, wars and civilizations that ended centuries ago, unless you understand how they came to be and how they affected the things that came afterward?

Take Latin - the quintessential dead language. You can memorize rules and vocabulary, learn to read Caesar and Virgil, and what do you get? Or you can learn to see the connections between Latin and English, to see the roots of words and understand the underlying meanings. That not only allows you to learn Latin faster, but gives you a better grasp of your own language. If you do read Caesar and Virgil, is it better to memorize quotes, or to understand how each work reflects and shapes the culture it comes from? And move from there to understand how Roman culture influenced our own?

I agree with you that education doesn't meet up to either standard. But I'll point out that the "constipated minds" in power today were not raised on "soundbite" education. They were raised on readin', 'ritin' and 'rithmetic.