So, what is the answer?
Start off by taking back some control over those hard earned dollars. I've sent my kids to public and private schools, and neither are perfect. However, when the private school screws up they know about it because you take your child out of the school, and they lose $$$. This doesn't happen in the public school setting, and it's high time to change that. Vouchers is a great way to get competition in the arena, so that public schools (teachers unions) stop misusing the tax dollars. They won't learn the lesson if there are no consequences to their poor choices on how to spend that money. To them, it's all monopoly money anyway. It has to become real to them to get them to face up to making changes...for the good of society.
There already is competition in schools. You are free to take your child from a public school and enroll them in the private school of your choice or even home school them. Public schools compete with the private schools and if the service that they provide does not meet the needs of their clientel then those people are free to take their kids elsewhere.