The Purpose of Public Schooling
“A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare.”
Justice H. Walter Croskey, in the opinion holding that California parents do not have the right to home school their children.
The term "fascist" has been overused, and in any case I know nothing about Croskey's views on economics. But I find it extraordinary that he would be willing to explicitly argue that public schools exist largely to indoctrinate children in views the government approves of, with or without the consent of their parents.
I came across the quote in a webbed essay on the decision. It reminded me of an old academic article by John Lott in which he conjectured that the reason schooling was so widely provided by governments was as a way of reducing the cost of controlling their populations, and offered some statistical evidence in support. One version of the paper is available online.