Knowing facts is one thing. While Americans did not do so well with that, where I see an even worse problem is that they do not understand the concepts underlying the scientific method. Without basic understanding of the scientific method, too many people fall for pseudoscience of all types and actually think that believing pseudoscience makes them not only scientifically literate, but more knowledgeable than those who spend their lives actually studying science.
I see this all the time on FR. To be fair, it is a problem that spans the political spectrum.
My theory is far fewer people these days know how the things they use daily work and as a result technology has become magic to them. They are now dependent on “experts” to understand for them instead of evaluating and thinking for themselves. If the experts say man is causing global warming, it must be so. They have become thought sheep.