In high school I was told to make up statistics as needed when writing essays. Anecdotal evidence of course but I suspect that many schools do a bad job at this.

But I suspect the bigger problem is that the amount of research needed to hold an informed opinion is growing exponentially in many fields.

Sure, but that doesn't mean plenty of adults couldn't use a well designed refresher. After all, studies have shown[1] that many adults struggle with arithmetic of a level also taught in school.

[1] This article summarizes some of the findings of one such study and links to further resources https://qz.com/638845/americans-are-spectacularly-bad-at-ans...