[Cincinatus' Wife]

***Even as local property tax is viewed as an unfair way to fund education, it represents reality given the state and federal mandates that don't come with enough money attached. Arlington Selectman Charlie Lyons said his community must find a new approach that takes into account taxpayers' ability to pay.

"Some people are income poor and property rich and said, `We can't afford it,' " said Lyons. Others might simply not want to pay for a service they don't use. Public education is an act of community and public faith, a pact between those who use the public schools and those who don't.

The gamble is that making school engaging, which might cost an extra $400 a year in taxes, will add to public life, if not real estate values. But how do you sell something as intangible as educational quality? "A lot of people don't want to support the public schools any longer. They don't feel like they should, and that is a real moral issue," said Arlington School Committee chairwoman Suzanne Baratta Owayda, noting the pressure to pay for programs with user fees. Judi Bohn, Arlington Public Schools partnership coordinator, wonders if the town will lose appeal without excellent schools. "Are we going to end up in a place where people say, `Oh, Arlington is a great place to live, but you have to send your kid to private school,' " she asked.***Source

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People don't wan't to support BAD public education.

[Paul_B]

For thirty years I've been sick and tired of the teachers' unions trying to shame me into higher school taxes while at the same time holding a gun to my head. Everyone wants our children to have great education; many, however, resent union extortion to do so. When teachers do far better financially than the community median, when older folk have to move because they no longer can afford the taxes, something is dreadfully wrong. All the more so as the quality of education, acedemic and social, is declining.