“Then the “rulers” look around and say “we never saw it coming because nobody told us”.”
But they don’t give up. They just come up with new plans for compelling the wily serfs to obey.
In this case it took about 15 years for the ruling class to invent “forced bussing”. Your kids were their pawns, to do with as they pleased.
You only thought you were free. Instead government social engineers took possession of your kids and forced them into unsafe environments that everybody hated.
Most folks in these parts figured out home schooling years ago—public schools are child abuse.