Commentary The Nation’s Report Card revealed that in 2014 only 18 percent of American eighth graders are at or above the level of proficiency in U.S. history—and only 1 in 100 are considered advanced. The takeaway is clear: Our schools are failing to teach our national heritage. Naturally, the consequences stretch long into adulthood. A 2018 study from the Woodrow Wilson Foundation revealed that only one in three Americans would pass a citizenship test. Knowledge is declining steeply by generation, with a 74 percent pass rate in the 65+ age group tumbling to a mere 19 percent in the under 45 demographic. Though younger generations are better educated and endowed with far greater resources than their older counterparts, the neglect of history worsens nonetheless. As a consequence, Americans are being robbed of the intellectual autonomy required to make their own informed judgements of their nation and its history. Ignorance creates …