I had several very good teachers throughout high school. This one in particular was not one of them.
She taught a course in American Literature. Amongst the books we read was Kate Chopin's The Awakening. For my final essay, I wrote that the lead character need not have killed herself - there's always an alternative to suicide. I got the paper back with a big 'ole fifty at the top and a quick message underneath: "You're wrong. Write it again."
Another of my English teachers was quite fond of praising quantity over quality. We would have class discussions on Margaret Taylor's Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant. While the rest of my class would receive A's for sitting around making plenty of comments about how the abusive mother of the novel appeared "upset" and "a little unhinged," I and a few of my friends would receive lower grades for only throwing out one or two comments on such things as Taylor's usage of stream-of-consciousness or the psychological factors involved in becoming an abusive parent - comments that would be bowled over by the rest of the class, who didn't want to have to actually think and just wanted the grade.
My other two English teachers in high school were much better. Sadly, both of them left the school shortly after I had them - one on maternity leave, the other for retirement (he'd been teaching for well over thirty years).
I'm not saying that all education is brainwashing. Just that it is used quite often in public schools today. Once I got to college, I felt as though I was in the middle of my own personal intellectual revolution. I think the problem, at my high school anyway, is that high schools these days are trying to emphasize individuality while they're trying to teach the same thing to everyone. If they'd just stick to the basics and leave it to us to come up with who we are I think everyone would be a lot happier.