Actually I wasn't unhappy at all N. Beltov, and that is not properly any concern of yours, nor is it relevant to this conversation. I don't speculate on whether you have had enough coffee to drink this morning, so perhaps we should just stay on topic.
The point I was making is that school in the past was definitely a bit more authoritarian and backed up with physical force than things are today. Yes, if my grandmother had not stepped in the teacher would have done her best to beat left-handedness out of my father. And I think that although the system we have is far form perfect it has improved.
And regarding an overhaul of the whole system, I think it is more important that students leave with the ability to read and do math (something school SHOULD be able to accomplish but is not) than trying to force upon them the ability to think. That second goal is something a lot of students will get, and which some teachers do inspire. And personally, I would like for schools to foster free thought as much as possible. But you're never going to be able to enshrine it as part of the curriculum, and it doesn't do much good when the whole system is falling apart so badly that kids are leaving school unable to write.