school funding

I hate the way we fund schools. All the debate we have regarding public schools ends up being completely disingenuous, because this very issue is always completely off of the table from day one. Instead, we talk about "poor schools" and "rich schools" and wonder how we can possibly survive in a world where such a divide exists.

Instead, we should be asking ourselves: Why are we using local property taxes to fund our school system anyway? There is no real good reason for it, and all it does is create some areas where the local government is able to collect large amounts of taxes, and others, where the local authorities can collect virtually none.

We can do better, I say. Our current system spends as much, if not more per capita, and produces poorer results. The central reason comes down to these issues of local dominance and vast funding disparity. If we stopped duplicating efforts between districts, and we stopped starving some schools, while lavishing others, then everyone would be better off.

But then again, that's just my opinion