>>>Driver’s ed teaches only how to (hopefully) safely operate the car;little or nothing is taught of what goes on under the hood.
This analogy doesn’t fit: there are two types of computer classes. One for the majority of students who just want to learn Microsoft Word, etc. (the one that fits your analogy). And another group of eager students who want to learn to program and hot rod their own game computers (the case that doesn’t fit your analogy). For this second group (any programming class) should learn how an operating system works under the covers.
The analogy works, because most schools (or school systems; it's not at every campus) also have classes in auto repair. The basic class teaches a basic life skill that everyone should have, the advanced class a job skill that some students may wish to pursue.