So the per-capita formula for budgeting a school doesn’t actually work…if the state is there to serve the public and not the capitalist.
I’m not arguing for the per-capita formula, but if that’s what we’re using, let’s not act like these kids are greedy bandits running off with all the public education money.
I’m not even sure that it’s bad that you be able to go elsewhere. I don’t want people being taught a fundamentalist agenda on tax payer dollars, but I also don’t want kids to be forced into schools that are a bad fit for them because “that’s where their parents live.” I always did better in a more independent study environment, I probably could’ve had an easier time (in terms of learning things) if my parents had pulled me out and let me go to an online school that let me just skip the lecture and dive into the actual material.
Every state has different funding structures as well. Ohio bases funding IIRC primarily off of real estate taxes in the local community … which leads to schools like the one I went to having ancient text books and public schools in rich neighborhoods having (at least anecdotally) literal iPads for every student back in like … 2010.
I know Ohio’s system has been ruled unconstitutional twice but nobody’s actually fixed it. Education funding is a mess, but “having options” isn’t a bad thing so long as those options are of sufficient quality.