Prepare children for the way the world works outside of school and help low income children pay for college.

If you really want children to know how the real world operates pay them for going to school. Make the rewards and penalties the same as the having a job. Put the money in an account for them when they graduate much like a 401K. If they decide to they can use it for college or it will roll it over into their "adult" 401k. The better they perform the more money they earn. If they fail they don't get the raise for moving up. If they perform well on tests they get a bonus. If they do not graduate they lose that money. So forth and so on..