You make some good points. Much of the history you are talking about is learned outside the schools, and probably should be, but part of what we pay the public school system for is making good citizens, and a background in what it means to be American (which should include our virtues as well as our faults) is important in this.

This is ESPECIALLY critical in areas like mine where people from many places and cultures who want to live here need to know that there is more to being American than just eating at McDonalds.

Our children are not learning about what they need to know NOW to make intelligent choices in life and in the voting booth. Basics of philosophy, economics, science, writing and reading, and especially history. A cynic might suggest that the last thing a politician wants is an intelligent choice in the voting booth, but this leads into questions of who you want running your school system.