According to the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), in 2023 12% of Americans were below Level 1 in literacy, or "functionally illiterate", and 16% more Americans were below Level 2, or unable to "complete tasks that require comparing and contrasting information, paraphrasing, or making low-level inferences" (descriptions of literacy levels obtained from this 2019 publication).

Around 40 percent of 4th graders are working below the NAEP Basic level in reading, the largest percentage since 2002... About a third of 8th graders nationwide are failing to hit the NAEP Basic benchmark in reading — the largest percentage ever. – National Assessment Governing Board

In math, nearly 40 percent of 4th graders are working at the NAEP Proficient and NAEP Advanced levels... A little more than a quarter of 8th graders nationwide are performing at or above the NAEP Proficient level in math. Nearly 40 percent of 8th graders are working below NAEP Basic. – National Assessment Governing Board

These numbers merely reflect the performance of schools in teaching the most basic skills. Even if all students were adequate in reading and arithmetic, they would still be graduating from a neoliberal system of education that obsesses over quantifiable data and uses arbitrary rankings to determine which schools are and are not elite. In such a system, students lack the insight, moral character, and life habits required to be civic leaders in a democratic state.