US educational standards have been dismal for decades, Biden's encouragement and support of woke culture amd mask mandates continues this downward trend.
The reason we are so low in STEM scores, especially maths, is because of the way we teach math, and STEM in general. It is not fun. Who the hell wants to sit in a classroom with a pencil and paper, and work on boring math equations based on theory, when you can apply it to real-world equations with explosives?
You take a field-trip to a quarry, blow-shit up, and THEN talk about the mathematics and physics behind why the water heater over-pressurizing did what it did.
We're American kids. We like to see shit blow up. THEN we garner interest in how it works.