Critics often warn that American schools are failing, and that our students are ill-prepared for the challenges the future holds, and may even be ""the dumbest generation."" We can think of these claims as warning about a Stupidity Epidemic. This essay begins by tracing the history of the idea of that American students, teachers, and schools are somehow getting worse; the record shows that critics have been issuing such warnings for more than 150 years. It then examines four sets of data that speak to whether educational deterioration is taking place. First, data on educational attainment s