Having a "bland" opinion doesn't mean that the opinion is incorrect.
I think all schools are inherently notable. I also think all US Presidents are inherently notable. Both are "bland" opinions, neither deserves less respect than the other, but judgements about their correctness must be made independently.
Calling all US presidents notable can be backed up by the sheer amount of written material on them and their profound effect on US history.
While I find education a noble thing, I don't see how that makes all schools inherently notable and I've got no similar argument as with presidents to back that up. The written material on schools is sparse and often written by somone involved with the school itself, making 3rd party sources hard, if not impossible, to find. Hence, I'll look at schools on a case by case basis.
Just a little more info to begin with would keep a lot schools out of AFD. If the original creator added some piece of info (Famous alumni, first school to..., or location of ...) to an otherwise common article with basic info it would satisfy a lot of "deletionists" with regard to notability.
I would certainly support ignoring overly vague nominations or votes based on the category an article falls in rather than its individual merits.
--Mgm