Guys, I understand that you're worried, but as it is with that discussion about firearm laws, you're again making the problem of America seem as a Global problem.
Again, I'm maybe using too minor a group as an example, but around here, the quality of teaching <i>and</i> learning is remarkably good.
I agree, knowledge is good (and I know that the amount of stuff they teach to kids in American school is rather narrow compared to some other countries), but it's also good to know <i>how</i> to use that knowledge and even how to question it in some cases.
Even street-wise people can be intelligent. They may not top the tables in the amount of knowledge, but can be respectably high when it comes to processing that knowledge they have. I'm again referring to one of my favorite pet peeves, but religious beliefs in people's minds are strong because of this. They believe in something, because they've been <i>taught</i> to believe in something when they've been too young to process and question those things they've been told as facts.
And I'm still (2 +) OR 20 OR (- 2) years old.