I grew up in NorCal, too; that was the opposite impression I got. Most of the teachers I had were relatively young, and hadn't been teaching for a very long time; my conversations with them - especially in high school - frequently included mentions of how often they'd be pink-slipped because the teachers' union - dominated by veteran, tenured teachers - would elect for pay raises instead of hiring more teachers. This meant growing class sizes, and the veteran teachers knew it.
We were certainly taught about the environment, how biodiversity is a good thing, etc., but I was hard-pressed to find a teacher that actually agreed with the teachers' union, and unions in general were typically portrayed in a neutral light at best.
I guess my perception is somewhat malformed due to memories, but your experiences line up with mine. I guess the f(x)(explanation) for the x I gave was incorrect.
I do remember a lot of my teachers being pink slipped, but I also do remember all the strikes, all the specific agenda pushing. It was covert in the sense that young kids do not have such sharp anti-manipulation senses formed.
We were certainly taught about the environment, how biodiversity is a good thing, etc., but I was hard-pressed to find a teacher that actually agreed with the teachers' union, and unions in general were typically portrayed in a neutral light at best.