I agree with your assessment regarding the establishment and the unions, but you are right - there are still some excellent holdouts, if one looks for them.
I am not at all anti-homeschooling, in fact I think it's a wonderful concept - for the right people. I'm not one of those people. And I realized that early on.
In the Homeschool/public school debate, often people overlook a couple of other alternatives: parochial or private schools.
If you like your public school, great! But if you don't and homeschooling isn't for you, look at your local parochial and private schools. Many parochial schools have a policy of not turning anyone away on the basis of their ability to pay. Their teachers are really committed and you can 'shop' for a school where the values and curriculum matches your families ideals.
Private schools are out of my area of expertese, sorry to say.
Rubber stamps. One year I got rubber stamps for each of the preschool teachers.