Ignoring the obvious hyperbole of your first sentence, sure politics essentially sets the curriculum (for better or for worse). That doesn't excuse the political system also getting in the way of teaching it.

Mercifully in Australia we don't have standardized testing every year (yet), but enough importance is tied to the tests that do take place that a disproportionate amount of time is spent preparing kids for the style of tests administered, regardless of any gaming of the system, reducing the time spent on the rest of the curriculum.

I know we've argued education before and so I'm not expecting a hallelujah moment, but I figured it was a point that should also be made.