Just a note: "thinking" is taking in information and processing it.
But hey, I'll play it your way.
We'll grant that reading, math and science are "worker bee" skills, and not worthy of discussion.
Show me a public education result of any kind that has shown any correlation with the massive increase in education costs.
Now, more money does not guarantee a better education, but less guarantees a poorer one.
Print out that graph. Take your finger and move it upward along that cost line. Then downward. See what changes occur on the other lines.