It is also a symptom of a dumbed-down electorate
Anywhere the GOP gets complete power they quickly move to gut education because that ensures they will stay in power- their appeals to bigotry and fear need an uneducated audience in order to be effective...
The problem is that its really easy to over-do the dumbing-down of a population- and when you do that, Trumpism is the result.
The right-wingers that loyally defended every move their party took down this path have only themselves to blame for this appalling spectacle- and if Trump wins they will have the blood of our nation on their hands.