I don't think they mean that Sweden/Norway don't value equality, but that there seems to be more focus on other aspects that are focused on in the US (e.g. comp

I don't think they mean that Sweden/Norway don't value equality, but that there seems to be more focus on other aspects that are focused on in the US (e.g. competition, mix of private/public schools, options of cheap/expensive schools, possibly not as high teacher standards, etc.). It doesn't have to be a zero-sum game. I think there's also a difference between what equality is focused on. Sweden pushes equality in some ways probably more than any other country (e.g. gender equality), but that doesn't necessarily mean there is as much focus in other areas (e.g. socio-economic equality -- though I don't know if that's a good example or not).