You might have read some of the discussion of the (apparently controversial) decision to include Hayek among the people studied in Texas schools (here's Russ Roberts with comments and links). I think Hayek's importance is demonstrated in debate: it's perhaps ironic that he is being inserted into a curriculum through a very un-Hayekian process of central coordination.

Is Hayek important? Yes, and I would suggest that anyone in any department who has The Communist Manifesto on his or her syllabus should add Hayek's "The Use of Knowledge in Society," Mises's "Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth," and possibly Hayek's The Road to Serfdom (hey, there's an idea for Econ 100...). For the state to assume it knows all and impose Hayek by fiat, though, is pretty un-Hayekian.

A quick word on standards: I would suppose that being a public school teacher in the face of such controversies is demoralizing because control of your classroom is in the hands of some far-off board or bureaucrat indulging the pretense of knowledge. Theirs is a fatal conceit for everyone involved: teachers' hands are tied, students' options are limited, and everybody loses. I know I would be demoralized if my syllabi were handed down from a College Board in Nashville or Washington, and I'm pretty sure our students would be demoralized if they couldn't take their business elsewhere.