One of the big myths about government schools is that children gain good "socialization."  The socialist pledge of allegiance is more proof that the socialization of government schools is so bad that government schools should end.
 
When the U.S. Constitution was written, people in the U.S. received private educations.  Bellamy lived during the time when schools were becoming socialized heavily by government in the U.S.   It was a view later shared by the National Socialist German Workers' Party.

Francis Bellamy and his cousin Edward Bellamy wanted the government to take over all schools and create an “industrial army” of totalitarian socialism as described in the book.   Francis Bellamy is the reason that there is often a U.S. flag flying at local schools or inside classrooms. The U.S. flag is like a white flag of surrender over local schoolhouses, surrender to takeover by government, to nationalization, to the Department of Education, and to socialism.  Francis Bellamy has been described as an advertising pioneer.  It would make more sense to say that he was a propaganda pioneer, with success comparable to Leni Riefenstahl.  The Bellamy ideas were dystopian hell here and abroad.

Government's schools spread and they mandated segregation by law and taught racism as official policy and did so through WWII and beyond
http://www.rexcurry.net/stopthepledge4.html

The bizarre practices served as an example for three decades before they were adopted by the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. When Jesse Owens competed in the 1936 Olympics in Germany,  his neighbors attended segregated government schools where they saluted the flag with the Nazi salute.  As under Nazism, Jehovah's Witnesses (and blacks and the Jewish and others) in the USA were required by law to perform the Nazi salute in the USA and robotically chant the pledge.  If they refused, then they were expelled from government schools and had to use the many better alternatives.  There were also acts of physical violence.
If parents rejected government schools in favor of the many better alternatives, some government school administrators would still harass the families.  

The United States of America is one of the only nations since Germany (under the National Socialist German Workers' Party) that has designated an official pledge to its flag.

To this day, children are still ostracized and persecuted in government schools that still hold a daily ritual where children stand for a robotic recitation of a pledge and salute written by a socialist to glorify government.

And no one disputes the invidious influence of a century of socialism's racism and segregation mandated by law in government schools, where it was taught as an official policy.   Even after the socialist segregation ended the socialist schools continued racist and vicious behavior with forced busing, removing children from their neighborhoods and families,  forcing them to government facilities across town, and destroying their local  neighborhoods and the support that was provided. 

Today, the government owns and operates most schools and there is constant political debate about how the government should handle myriad non-educational issues within the schools.  Imagine if the government owned and operated most churches and there was constant political debate about how the government should handle myriad non-religious issues within government churches (dress codes, cell phones, drug testing, sex ed, discrimination, forced busing to integrate churches, etc). Would the media and the citizenry advocate that the issues be solved by privatizing the churches, removing government from the churches, and championing the separation of church and state? Apparently not. If the popular reasoning regarding schools is followed, the media and citizenry would merely advocate that socialized churches adopt various policies that are the most "popular" or considered to be the most "reasonable."   Other people, instead of creating the First Amendment, would instead advocate a voucher program where every child would receive government funding for his church.  The same disaster would result. 

Many people have been mistreated and segregated by government schools. They have constantly struggled to correct government schools. Imagine if everyone who had been mistreated or segregated by government schools had instead advocated the separation of school and state, and had withdrawn from government schools, and had switched to private schools or had formed their own private schools and used the many better alternatives. They would have done better than they have done by staying in government schools. They would have academically surpassed the people they left behind in government schools. They would have enjoyed true freedom, including true religious freedom, even in their schools. Their actions would have been much more historical, revolutionary and inspiring than the constant struggle to correct government schools. It would have been a story as historical, revolutionary and inspiring as was the separation of church and state, and the end of government churches.  

Help to restore the pledge to its pre-1892 condition (the condition of non-existence). Remove the pledge from the flag, remove the flag from schools, and remove schools from government.  The separation of school and state is as important as the separation of church and state. The government should not run Sunday school, nor Monday school through Friday school.  It's not too late for the separation of school and state.