Never even thought of it that way. I just always thought, "Eww! I can't have x number of children in daycare at that rate." But, we do live in lower income areas. I know there is a waiting list for any good schools around here and I wouldn't even think of letting my children go to the school across the street from us.
I hadn't framed it to myself exactly that way before either, but from this prespective you incur significant "costs" - loss of income by one spouse or (usually) higher housing costs to be in a good school district - either way.
That's one reason one of the strongest predictors of bankruptcy is having children.
One "cost" is pretty obvious though, the higher property taxes and mortgage of the better school district. The other is less immediate but still real, the loss of lifetime earning potential by the stay-at-home spouse - a decade or two out of the work force and it's often very difficult to get back on-track toward earning "what you are worth."
And of course is there is a divorce the spouse with the interrupted working career frequently takes a *huge* subsequent financial hit; in any but quite affluent families divorce is a substantial burden for both partners, but on the average the majority of the financial disadvantage falls on the nonworking spouse, usually the the wife - the continuously employed spouse often earns a higher income and will be relieved of financial obligation once child support and/or alimony ends, but the nonworking spouse in often faced with a lifetime of lower earnings due to their interrupted careers.