That's a problem due to the American peoples acceptance of authoritarian policing; something that would be inconceivable in more enlightened countries.
Why would that be considered a flaw? The rationale behind it is the same as behind the inability to name your child XAe or any random assortment of letters – to not make the future difficult for your child, even if you as a parent might want it. It is also one of the last tools that prevents parallel societies from forming. Not that German schools are ideal - they are a bit stuck in the past - but the common experience they create in each new generation is valuable.
Because my children are likely going to have ADHD like I do, and public schools are hell for us. When I was a child I cried every day, hated my parents and didn't understand what did I do that I deserved to be forced into that prison. I am not going to put my children through that. I don't care about your social engineering goals, I care about happy childhood for my children.
These legally operate as groups of homeschooled children where I live, and there actually is only one kind of "school". Yes, I'm considering that. One thing I definitely don't want is an "institution" that feels like it's entitled to do or require children to do whatever it wants, even if it has generally enlightened opinions and methods. If my child can't come at all for half a year, that's what will happen.
I agree, and in some countries it does feel like your children get 'institutionalized'. Still, even there, there are differences between schools. What my parents did was to visit the schools, talk to the teachers, see whether they had a good or a bad feeling, and insisting on getting me into a specific class. It does work, but of course all the schools and classes should ideally be good.
That's a good thing to do for sure. The problem is - my parents did that, and visited more than once, but every time they did, the teachers put up an act of being larger than life and the most enlightened experts of child development under the sun. Unfortunately, they believed them because the act was so good, and because years of life under communism taught them that going against institutions leads you to bad places.
I don't have the latter problem - I got the opposite problem from that, sometimes I hate the system a little bit too much - but still, remembering how the teachers used to threaten us if we don't put up our best act, meaning never speak out about the lies they told when other parents visited, I can't really trust few visits to give me an accurate impression.
> It is also one of the last tools that prevents parallel societies from forming.
Consider German history. They had the Nazis in power. Half of Germany had the Communists in power. So, you don't want Nazis and Communists home schooling their kids - you want those kids in regular school, where they can be taught about democracy and human rights. But if the Nazis or Communists are in power, you absolutely want to be able to homeschool, rather than have that garbage beat into your kids day after day at school.
So given their history, I can absolutely see why they should be afraid of home schooling. But I can also see why they should want the freedom to do it.
From my experience with attending four schools in two countries - it is often the quality and the personality of the teacher that influences what I was learning, not so much the curriculum. I see very little chance for radical thought being taught at German schools, unless 70%+ of school teachers get replaced.
