I would look at this from an even higher, more abstract level than budgets. It's a bit of a chicken or egg problem, but I went to what are considered some of t

I would look at this from an even higher, more abstract level than budgets. It's a bit of a chicken or egg problem, but I went to what are considered some of the best public schools in NYC growing up, and I can tell you they aren't great. From a quick look they have all the right check boxes: experienced teachers (close look: old, tired, angry teachers), great math, science and humanities programs (rigid, standardized test based curriculum), etc. etc. The education I got was by all means "good," but it was VERY herd mentality, and it as very much about standardizing a body of knowledge and culture NOT about promoting active discourse etc. Yet, I still ended up alright, whereas, considering how "good" a high school I went to, many of the kids did not. The difference was the home, the neighborhood and the culture we went home to at night. Now I know all of this is circular, and a bit of the chicken egg issue, but there is really nothing you can do for people when the household they go back to doesn't support their education. Conversely, even a horrible school can't ruin a good education provided by your family and community. You can give them all the help in the world, but no matter how many free college workshops you have, if education isn't explicitly a goal among their friends, family and community they'll realize pretty quickly that it wont be useful in their lives and will disengage. So I'm all for education reform, I think it should be a constant in our society. Education ALWAYS needs improving. But we need to be a little more careful with understanding what exactly an education system can and cannot provide. The problems that are in this article can't really be fixed with a better education system, they are symptomatic of far bigger cultural issues that need addressing.