I agree with you entirely, Tsarina Liz. (And welcome to the forum, btw!

. Alexei's education was woefully inadequate. And as much as people here like to bemoan the inadequacy of Nicholas II's education, he at least had a stellar, leading Russian intellectual as his tutor, Konstantin Pobedonostsev (yes, his views were indeed reactionary, but he was a real intellectual force in Russia and his overall brilliance and political influence should not be underestimated just because we might disagree with his views). The appointment of Pobedonostsev was fully in keeping with the age-old tradition of the emperor of naming leading Russian intellectuals and writers to the position of the tsarevich's governor. A tradition which Nicholas II, alone amongst the Romanov tsars, failed to fulfill.
Of course, Nicholas was very much like his father, Alexander III, in having a deep suspicion of intellectuals, but
unlike his father (and grandfathers), he chose complete intellectual nonentities as the tutors of his children. No one outside of the imperial court had ever heard of Gilliard and Gibbes. Indeed, they were not worthy of any special notice. Not only weren't they intellectual geniuses, they weren't even Russian! - a point that needs to be emphasized. The only Russian tutor of the imperial children, Petrov, seems to have been an aging, easygoing layabout, well intentioned but hardly intellectually challenging to or demanding of his pupils... Even Gilliard admitted in his memoirs that Olga, despite her great intellectual promise, was unable to fulfill it, because of the inferior court milieu in which she lived. And remember, her formal education ended when she turned sixteen... in other words, she was given the traditional education of a young Russian provincial noblewoman, not that of a potential future ruler or regent of the empire. (And this is indeed interesting, given Alexandra's ambitions for her eldest daughter.)
Gibbes recalls in his memoirs that he was appalled by the tsarevich's lack of knowledge of English... Alexei did not seem to understand the native language of his mother and certainly could not speak it. He was also abominably spoiled (ordering a special pastry from the kitchens and devouring it during his lesson!). I think you are absolutely right, Liz, to call our attention to the paltry educational efforts made by Nicholas and Alexandra on behalf of their children... too little, too late (if at all) seems to have been their motto. And I can't help but suspect that this had something to do with 1) Nicholas's own awareness of his intellectual mediocrity, and his desire to avoid people smarter than himself (e.g., his dislike of men of genius like Witte and Stolypin), and 2) Alexandra's ongoing illnesses, emotional and physical, which taxed her strength and made it difficult if not impossible for her to effectively oversee her children's education.