Well, Iain, I've felt for a long time that eduation in the US has placed the emphasis on indoctrination more than learning to think logically and for one's self. Just the multiple choice test alone implies that there is only a single correct answer... so much for shades of grey or different interpretations.

My brother once had a real idiot for an English teacher who drove him to distraction... his "revenge" came when he submitted an essay on spaghetti farmers and how they needed long narrow rows to grow their spaghetti plants. She gave him an A, never suspecting that she had provided the proof that she was an ignorant young woman not to be taken seriously. Lucky for her she didn't make her students read their works aloud in class... which I think my brother really wanted to do. Steve didn't get mad, he got even.