re: What this says about the US education "system":
While I don't advocate teaching creationism in schools, and while I agree that goofy ideas being taught in some locations is a necessary evil of decentralized schooling systems, it might be interesting to compare the damage from something like that compared to some of the Brilliant and Modern Ideas that have been inflicted on local schools from the state and Federal level over the past decades.
When I was in high school, I think the "in thing" was modular scheduling. I can think of "new math," and "bilingual" education. Those who have been teaching for a while could probably think of other examples.