I'm always baffled by the way US (and on a lesser degree UK) people see schools. My (EU/Italian) point of view is that's something that could be improved (like anything) but not the evil I see through your words. There must be some significant difference in the school experience that I don't understand (for lack of knowledge, probably).
Conservatives here actually make things worse in public life as a policy decision...public schools are a perfect example...then run for election based on things being bad in public life.
Since public education became a thing for all the states, conservative Christians have been opposed to it. They will moderate their message depending on the audience, but when discussed among themselves they talk about abolishing it. The really ridiculous thing is how schools are funded. I won't go into it here, but it guarantees that poor people will have a bad education.
