Ever hear of the movie IDIOCRACY?? Came out around 2007 if my memory is correct.
The premise is that the world has gone totally stupid and when I first saw it, my reaction was,
this IS the world we live in.
And the worst part is, its recognized that in GENERAL, teachers are teachers cause while some
really wanted to be a teacher, in general, most are teachers cause they likely couldn't do much else.
And it shows, and the sad part is, the not so bright are responsible for preparing others to be ready for life.
And as you stated, the DUMBING down of America has happened, and its only going to get worse unless we
destroy our current education system and start over with a much higher degree of expectations.