Why are publicly funded schools always so left-leaning?

I have never confronted the question that asks why publicly funded schools generally teach things at a pro-government slant. Now that I am confronting this question, I first thought of two seemingly plausable reasons for the big government slant. One reason for the bias could be that people in government know that when the people hand over the power to educate their children, they also hand over a large amount of the influence in the young minds. In this scenario, the members of the government would be sowing the seeds for a future harvest of pro-government voters. And this is where the thought breaks down... This is where I realize that this is not how this could have happened. Do I really believe that our elected officials generally plot for 15 years down the road? No way. Most public offices have term limits. Even if that wasn't the case, most politicians fail to see more than a month or two ahead of the present. Think of the McCains and Romneys of the political world. Think of Pelosi, Franks and Obama for just a second. Do any of the politicians that I just mentioned seem to have a cohesive strategy to sway the public? Yes. That strategy is to simply say whatever the public wants them to say at any given time. There is little regard to whether or not they believe what they are saying. The public lets them get away with double talk and poorly executed deceit. However, they always have to talk. To keep the adoration of their base, each of the mentioned politician continually is spewing whatever sort of bile keeps the followers cheering them on. This takes a lot of work. Continually begging for attention when there is nothing that you are principled about takes a hell of a lot of work. Think about it... When you don't care about the actual principle of an issue, doesn't it seem hard to genuinely care about it? Think of what you would do in the name of principle. Even the worst of us have some sort of principle to stand for. Now, think of something that you don't feel morally compelled to act. Let's say: Cable TV vs. Satellite TV. Now, try becoming passionate about that for more than a minute or two. You can't. It is impossible. So, these politicians who act so passionately about every issue under the sun (often times they have no idea what they really feel about the issue) must do this constantly. Do you think that McCain or Obama can really be as passionate about their economic proposals as they seemed? Hell no. If they were passionate about it, they would take the time to learn honest economics. Once honest economics, there is no way that an honest man can believe that the stimulus packages were what our economy needed. This is unless the man has too little capacity to learn basic economics. Where am I going with this? Politicians, who generally have such a small amount of principle, are too worried about the current popularity contest to stand for many long-lasting principles, including selfish principles. Could this be a ploy to grow a population of pro-gov voters? Nah.

Next, I thought of an idea that seemed more plausible. Government schools are run by government employees. A natural motivation for an individual who is helping run the school, is to seek more funding. Simply seeking more funding from the public requires a person who has any principle to believe that taking money from individuals in society to pay for public school is the right thing to do. Since a person who was less likely to agree with the idea of taking money from people to pay for school is also less likely to run a school, naturally the people who agree with public schools and their funding are more likely to end up in such a position. This is not a phenomena that is limited to the higher-ups in the school system. This is also an occurance that takes place among members of the faculty. They have to know that someone is paying their salary, right? This fact places a disproportionate amount of pro-government supporters in the education system.

A coincidence that I noticed: Pro-government politicians often have say over publicly funded institutions. Since the elected officials are often lobbied to by the school system in one form or another, the most loved politicians among faculty are the most left-leaning. There is no point to this, I just was amused by the coincidence.

So how would a pro-government supporter explain the left-leaning of public schools? They may say that educated people lean left politically, implying the consensus from the educated public says they are right. Although my explanation may be more complex and less likely to be said anywhere but on some forum, it is based in reality.

Plus, before we go on believing that teachers are enlightened, educated and devoted to their work, you and I both know from experience: Most people that work for the public schools do not become the level of professional that private sector employees become. Now, I am not saying that people don't seem more professional in the school system. However, the professional mechanic is held to a different standard than a professional teacher. The mechanic is regulated by the market. If he is sub-par, he is out of business. He must offer individuals choices to pay for his services that they value higher than any other good or service they can buy with that money. Teachers are not held to that same standard. Don't get me wrong, there are great teachers out there. However, teachers are held in check by their principal. If the principal thinks they are doing a good job, they will keep their job. Where is the real test from the consumer? What if children do not learn enough in a teacher's classroom? What if the style of the teacher isn't your favorite? There is not much to do, but to complain to the principal. Not the same sort of test that the market put to the mechanic's business. Why do I bring this up? Because in such environments, teachers will be generally less likely to perform to as high of a standard as a private sector job.

The school system is generally left leaning due to the nature of the institution. It is more complicated than that of course, but a government school is generally pro-government. Why would we expect anything else?

Thanks Chris Squires for starting my train of thought.

Just to be clear. I have nothing against teachers. It is a noble profession and there are many good teachers.