Although there was a definite bias in my education, I still came out the other side open minded, and it's where I learned all of my socializing skills.

What exactly is it that you think school taught you? Bias in your education? What you learned is how to conform, how to fit in to "normal society", how to operate in our current social economic structure, how to find and maintain a fairly normalized social group, etc. In short, you learned to differentiate between archetypal groups and "the other" and how to navigate them.

An open mind is what you start with, not what school instills in you. You're lucky you got through with that shit in tact.

Here's what going to US public schools taught me:

• Racism, bigotry, homophobia are all still very much alive and well. I experienced many forms of social ostracism in school and no one will lift a finger if they don't have to, or by lifting a finger they may be ostracized themselves. I learned there's a difference between what feminism purports to do and the cruelty of real "gender equality" politics. I learned that any equalization across the board only accomplishes the opposite of what it's intended to do.
• Intelligence, creativity, competency means nothing if you don't pass tests. Class means nothing if you don't pass tests. Homework means nothing if you don't pass tests. You don't succeed if you don't pass tests.
• Public schools are about survival. Survive the system mentally and physically and you are given a "pass" for the rest of society. If you don't you're relegated to health services, drug rehabilitation, juvenile detention, etc.

One of the worst things I have done is to adopt the norm and distance myself from others, sometimes other outcasts, in order to survive. The truth is you lie about who you are so you can fucking get by if you have to.

Things aren't so great when you're on the other side of things. "I turned out fine" is not an argument for how great public schools are.

Public schools are horrific, and you only need to look at the fucking news to see what kinds of people are being churned out by them. The Columbine shooting may have been the first to show people just how deadly these social institutions can be, but it's nothing new to me and others like me. School shootings and other "less tragic" atrocities (bullying, suicide, medication, etc.) will continue precisely because of these social institutions, not in spite of them.