I am the WORST at affect and effect. I can never get it right, and use other words because I don't want to use them incorrectly.

As for US students not possessing basic skills, big shocker! My daughter is in 11th grade, and they had to have a lesson on whether and weather. Many of the kids in her class also thought that "could've" was a contraction for "could OF"! And I have to tell you that this is a good school district with an average of 97% of the high school graduates go on to college. 95.5% graduate with a Regents Diploma (Regents is a course of study in NYS that demands that you pass the course plus a statewide exam in the subject, and it is a more intellectually challenging program). How the hell are these kids getting this far without knowing basic grammar?? And don't even get me started on how none of them know their multiplication tables!