Education jobs vs enrollment

You're right.....it's bad.  I think that public schools as we knew them growing up are going the way of the do-do bird.  The amount of kids being home schooled, added with the kids in private schools, added with the kids now enrolled in on-line programs, added with a general fear of violence in public schools, added with entire school districts who's tax base is blighted........and you can pretty much count on the death of the public system.

My wife and I have really tried to instill in our children the idea that school is a great place to learn, form friendships, play sports, and begin to find your way in life.  They buy it, they enjoy it, and we support our teachers and schools.  But they also know kids from their swim programs who are home schooled, and kids from the youth/jr. triathlon circuit who get their education on-line so they can  train more......and they know that everything is a trade off.  My wife and I both had wonderful and positive experiences in our childhood schooling, and both of us believed that home schooling and on-line schooling was a crock, a way of selling out the neighborhood schools.....and I have to say, I still have a lot of those beliefs.  Schools have been the woven fabric that held neighborhoods together from my experiences......but I also understand that times change.

I'd be willing to bet my grandchildren won't know "school" the way I did and my children did.  I think that's a sad commentary on our society....but I doubt there is any turning back at this point.

So I have a thought on this.  Isn't this more of an issue with poorly run state/city budgets than it is with the "education system" or increases in private schools?

I live in a great school district in a suburb of Omaha.  I think we individually pay close to $5k a year in property taxes that are specifically marked for public schools.  If I take my kids and put them into private school I still have to pay these taxes but the school doesn't have to provide the services to my children.  So I would think of it as a good thing for more kids to be put in private/home school because it would mean less services provided for the same amount of money.

I could be talking out my rear, but it makes more sense that municipalities are forced to cut back on education expenses because they've mismanaged the money in other areas.  If you're city is so devastated financially and you've created a tax system that's so bad that people move out of your city then of course your tax revenues are going to fall and the public education system is going to be harmed.

Maybe what I'm trying to say is the schools are a symptom of a much bigger problem.

Yeah, I agree.  There are a ton of factors and I was simply addressing the "money" side for the most part.