Okay, right off the bat: I haven't read the article yet. However, as for what you learn in public school? Reading, writing, 'rithmatic? You all know as well as I that you can learn that from your parents and/or the internet--no surprises there, and score one for the homeschoolers. However, what you're not going to learn is the things that go down in public school that technically aren't part of the curriculum, things that teach you how the real world actually works. While I'm likely to forget all the historical dates and quadratic formulas I memorized in high school, the politics and bureaucracy of the principal-teacher-ASB-student hierarchy, the social structures that are either bonded by clubs and classes or divided by cliques, and the hard truth about what often happens when geeks pursue goths (what, just me? Nevermind) are arguably just as relevant.
As for corporatizing education, do I need to name-drop Feed again? Who's up for SchoolTM? And I remember how uncomfortable I felt when I figured out The College Board was a company...