Rhyner-

Read my comments above and then get back to me.  You are blaming the teachers - I am blaming society and their parents.  People are getting dumber, on average, in this country.  I have hard anecdotal evidence to prove it.  Many of my friends are long-time educators: to a person, literally, the have had to dumb down their curriculum or go slower as the years have churned by.  Are the teachers to blame for this?  In your world, yes.  In my world, no.
Teachers fight an uphill battle everyday against media, electronics, advertising, and willful ignorance.  How can they "win" this battle when many parents have little education and therefore don't even value it themselves?  Again - read my posts above and get back to me.  In the meantime, quit blaming the teachers - they do their best with whomever walks in the door.  It's a damn hard job, Rich.