I mentioned this earlier but in my city, the school district consists of 5 high schools which all get common funding yet there is a huge difference between perf

I mentioned this earlier but in my city, the school district consists of 5 high schools which all get common funding yet there is a huge difference between performance. The top school is in 99% ranking in the state and the other schools are in middle tier. Though there is equal funding, it didn't make much of a difference. I have see all the schools are they look equally shabby having been build 50 years ago. The main thing that happened is nearly 15 years back (I think) standardized testing was passed so all schools were ranked. Then parents started sending their kids to the best schools they could afford. This started to give a divergence where the best schools started be become better. It also created demand for housing in the best school areas and the housing prices went up. In our city, the houses near the best schools are 2x the price. Quality wise everything else is the same. Now you have highly educated parents who are paid well how try to send their kids to the best school possible. So I don't think funding is the entire answer. We need safe schools. Parents need to be motivated for their kids to succeed. And kids will learn better in an environment where peers also value their education. But throwing money at the problem in the the entire answer. I believe there is a Freakanomics article about this issue and what they believed mattered the most for kids to succeed is that the parents cared enough about their kids education.