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We have compulsory schooling, not compulsory “government” schooling.

Neither does Germany. There's a booming private school sector in Germany, many, if not most of them Christian Schools. And there are really small private schools run by some rather weird sects, so if you don't want to send your children to a state school (h*ll, there are even denominational state schools, as there is no such strict division between church and state like in the US), you can always find a way around it.

The Romeikes wanted to set an example. And their supporters in the US wanted to use them for PR purposes. That is completely legitimate, but seriously, some kind of martyrs they are not.

How many languages do German students learn? And when do they start to teach them? I had to study 1 language and they didn’t start teaching that to us until I was in jr. high (14 years old) - which in my opinion is rather late to learn another language.

Usually 1-4 foreign languages, depending on which branch of the tripartite secondary schools system a German student attends. You start learning English (French in towns close to the border) in primary school, either from grade 1 or 3, after that it depends:

Hauptschule (up to grade 9, then vocational school): English is mandatory, a second foreign language optional

Realschule (up to grade 10, then vocational / trade school): Usually two foreign languages, with English being mandatory

Gymnasium (i.e. grammar school, up to grade 12, graduation enables you to attend university): Two languages, one of which must be English, are mandatory, second language from grade 5, a third or fourth from grade 7 or 9. The Gymnasium offers you the widest choice of languages, English, French are standard in all schools, Latin and Spanish popular offers, other languages include Old Greek, Russian, Italian and Chinese. If you can fit it into your schedule, you can even do 5 or 6 languages.

I learned English, Latin, Spanish and Old Greek in school.