Tax The Rich, Fund The Schools.

Here's the study that needs to be made. Take the facilities, equipment, supplies and teachers of an affluent school district and the same ingredients of a poor school district and switch the students. Try it for ten years. Then let's see which set of students improve and which set does poorer. Nutrition needs to be considered as well. Let's also get the parents involved in this switch. The reason I bring this up is that I just heard the argument for the umpteenth time that throwing more money at education doesn't improve education. Now that's a true statement if you're talking about a school that already has everything it needs. But it is a very untrue statement if you're talking about a poor and poorly appointed school. This is one of the most important points on contention in the "tax the millionaires" debate. In an affluent community, tax rates may be similar, but property values are so much higher that there are more funds available to provide for so much better facilities and amenities and teachers and parents seem to be better able to participate and to insist on better opportunities. Of course it's true that just plopping a check on the table isn't likely to improve things, it has the be wisely spent. The worst thing, for the country as a whole, is to allow local school boards to run the show. That's great for the affluent schools, but not for all the rest of the schools. And this country needs to be concerned about all the schools equally. More affluent children will almost always out-perform underprivileged students. Almost, but not always.