Is the US populace sliding toward functional illiteracy?

Note: this question was originally “I was like what’s up with guys that write like that?” but the moderators wouldn’t tolerate that play on styles.

I ask because I was reading The Federalist Papers last night, and was struck by the deeply thoughtful expository writing style of the authors of those collected essays. Today, not only are a limited number or gifted writers able to match such style, they wouldn’t bother for political expository writing because most Americans couldn’t read and comprehend it.

Sadly, today far too much of our political discourse is as insipid as “Your sic stupid!” and writing such as found in Hamilton, Madison and John Jay’s essays is completely inaccessible to the average high-school graduate. What can we do educationally, culturally, to turn back the rising tide of functional illiteracy?