The latest test scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), sometimes called “the Nation’s Report Card,” revealed that the science, math and reading comprehension scores of American students are down significantly.

This wasn’t limited to one age group, and unfortunately, it seems indicative of a general trend. For example, compared with NAEP’s initial 12th-grade reading assessment in 1992, the recently-released average score is 10 points lower. Eighth graders saw similar declines.

How is the U.S. responding to this, you ask? Well, the current government recently decided to cut funding to the Department of Education and laying off more than half of the workers of the Institute of Education Sciences, which is in charge of administering tests like these.

It’s a good thing ignorance is bliss, I guess!