The standards are public, yes, but that does not mean they are standards that a majority of the public agrees with. They are set by unelected bureaucrats. Scho

The standards are public, yes, but that does not mean they are standards that a majority of the public agrees with. They are set by unelected bureaucrats. School boards are elected, but I don't think "broad democractic oversight" is a fair description. In any case, none of the things you mention prevented the US public school system from being explicitly set up to indoctrinate children, as explicitly described by the people who set it up. So to the extent that society in the US cares about educating children, it cares about educating them according to a particular political agenda that many people do not agree with. That is a major reason why homeschooling continues to increase in popularity.