If one waits until freshman year of college to teach basic history, that’s just like trying to shut the barn door long after the horse has ran off…
And even assuming the K-12 educrats and state/local politicians are up to the task…which I have severe doubts considering local/regional politics tends to get in the way.
One example of this was an account of how one HS history teacher was scolded and disciplined by the regional schoolboard for covering the US military interventions in Haiti in the early 20th century because it was deemed by conservative schoolboard officials and local politicians feelings it’s “offensive” to military families in the area. They weren’t even necessarily offended by the way that part of US history was covered…BUT BECAUSE IT WAS COVERED AT ALL.