Independence Day is a time to celebrate the founding of the United States of America and all things American. But one thing Americans have no reason to celebrate is the US education system, especially with regard to its ability to teach US history.

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The results of a new Marist Poll show that too many Americans, particularly those educated in the past few decades, don't have the most basic knowledge of the country's founding.

According to the poll, while 58% of all respondents know that the United States declared its independence in 1776, only 31% of adults under 30 know that date.

When it comes to what country the colonies declared their independence from, 80% of those 60 and over know it was Great Britain compared to 77% of those 30 to 59 and only 67% of those under the age of 30.

Meanwhile education funding has increased substantially at all levels of government as part of the long-held belief among educators, politicians and bureaucrats that the only thing wrong with the country's schools is that we haven't thrown enough money at them.

Just this week President Barack Obama tried to frame the debate over the nation's unsustainable debt as a battle between "corporate jet owners" and "our children's education".

Perhaps if we go back to the way American students were taught when they actually learned, our entire population would have a much better understanding of our nation's history and we'd save a whole lot of money too.