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Man JMRod, you sound like you just repeated everything that has been going on around here lately. Big school controversy/debate/etc. Way too long to explain, but it definitely boils down to money. The biggest district around here thinks it needs to take everyone else's money to pay for their students, most of which are the type you described (broken home, don't care, etc). It's a mess.
Personally, I totally agree that if you don't send kids to school in a district that you shouldn't have to pay those taxes. However, I also feel that education is one thing that I am willing to pay for through taxes, regardless of my "usage" of it. The problem is as you mention, the mismanagement and misuse of the funds. Too many schools are worried about having free after-school programs for the underprivledged, free breakfast/lunch programs, hiring extra teachers/nurses/administrators that speak Spanish to cater to the illegals, etc. That's just wrong because it takes away from the kids that are there to get a solid education and go on to become something other than a drain on society. All this "free to the underprivledged" stuff really bugs me, because I feel that everyone should pay their fair share (anyone who has read my posts earlier in the thread knows my opinion well). I would mind even less paying for education that my kids may not use if I didn't also have to pay for a bunch of free programs/water parks in the poor neighborhoods/welfare/etc that I'm not allowed to use because I don't qualify as "underprivledged".
I agree that a lot of it starts at home, and more should be done to push it back home and keep it out of the schools.
What it really comes down to is that there is no longer any shame in being uneducated, having a prison record, not having a job but collecting a check, etc. I don't know if any of you saw Cinderella Man (with Russell Crowe), but there was a scene there where he had to go down to the welfare office (another issue of today, they don't have to go get it, we mail it to them) to get some money to feed his kids. He was hanging his head, trying to keep people from seeing him, etc. In another scene, he had to go into a "high society club" which he used to get into regularly and beg for some money from people he knew. He was ashamed of having to do it and it made him work to get back out of his situation. Okay, yes, I know, some of that may have been Hollywood-ed up, but the point is still made. Make it more shameful to collect welfare, and people will work to get off of it. Make it shameful to drop out of school, and people will work harder to stay in. Make it shameful (and not a "badge of honor") to have a prison record and more people will work harder to not do the things that get them put in prison.
It won't cure everything, but it will be a big start with lasting effects.
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