At that age I was a rebel without a clue, I despised all authority and thought everyone who told everyone what to do was a tool...like you I had to learn on my own. Actually there were many teachers who were not a bunch of proto-progs back then, but you could see where the direction was going...the increasing power of the teachers unions coupled with the cabal with democrats and control of state budgets first and then control of school districts second all but sealed that deal...and any pushback was short lived and of little importance...
Then parents began voting with their feet...and pocketbooks...and started sending kids to private schools and homeschooling.
Now, even many private schools are diseased...Public Schools in all but name...the only difference is the private schools usually have less violence and incidents...