The property taxes argument is a red herring. The implication that more money = better outcomes is not supported by anything. Ever since the federal Dept of Ed was founded, more money has gone into schooling with results going in the opposite direction. Property taxes are not the sum total of school funding, just a portion of it, and every district includes kids from a variety of backgrounds. You cannot excuse the state of the Chicago public school system on the basis of how ad valorem taxes are distributed.
Much of what has happened is Human Behavior 101, specifically that you will get more of what is tolerated or encouraged. When a classroom is run by the few knuckleheads within it and they are not held to account, not only do the remaining kids lose out, the few are emboldened and perhaps additional knuckleheads emerge. When schools refuse to enforce either discipline or standards, you cannot pretend to be shocked by the lack of discipline or standards. There were stories months ago about Baltimore "graduating" young people who are illiterate. That's not due to property taxes; it's due to professional malpractice on the part of professional educrats who traffic in self-interest rather than student interest.
The property taxes argument is a red herring. The implication that more money = better outcomes is not supported by anything. Ever since the federal Dept of Ed was founded, more money has gone into schooling with results going in the opposite direction. Property taxes are not the sum total of school funding, just a portion of it, and every district includes kids from a variety of backgrounds. You cannot excuse the state of the Chicago public school system on the basis of how ad valorem taxes are distributed.
Much of what has happened is Human Behavior 101, specifically that you will get more of what is tolerated or encouraged. When a classroom is run by the few knuckleheads within it and they are not held to account, not only do the remaining kids lose out, the few are emboldened and perhaps additional knuckleheads emerge. When schools refuse to enforce either discipline or standards, you cannot pretend to be shocked by the lack of discipline or standards. There were stories months ago about Baltimore "graduating" young people who are illiterate. That's not due to property taxes; it's due to professional malpractice on the part of professional educrats who traffic in self-interest rather than student interest.