Well it seems that in the media, more often than not it's the idiots who get interviewed, who get quoted.
I wasn't born in the US but I grew up there and received an American education, and I can tell you that there was no lack of Geography studies. In 9th grade, students in Fairfax County took World History And Geography I, covering early man all the way to the end of the Middle Ages in Europe, touching on many civilizations around the world, and geography was a part of every unit. Same with World History And Geography II in 10th grade, from the Renaissance to the present day. Unfortunately, not all counties in Virginia have the same amount of taxpayer funding as Fairfax, and the education may suffer a bit. However, one can't say that the education system in a smaller county isn't teaching kids that Czechoslovakia doesn't exist anymore, it all goes back to what I said at the beginning. Some peeps are idiots and can't retain that information.
If it helps, my old Government teacher Ms. Cable told us that most kids in Virginia don't know the names of our Senators.