You could say the same thing of the police, firemen, and the military.
“Free” education is a disaster. The students place no worth on it.
There's a lot of truth in that. I think we'd be better off with a system such as that Europeans and Asians use, where the quality & status of your education is directly related to your talent and effort.
By the way, at least in Asian schools students actually pay tuition, for junior high and high schools. Even at “public” schools. Another reason they value it, and one that makes our excuses for our food-kitchen-quality education more pathetic.
At the bottom of it, I think, is the bizarre notion of “fairness”. It’s not fair if some kids don’t have the opportunities other kids get. It’s not fair if they have to pay for their schooling, or maybe even not get any. But life isn’t fair. Maybe we should face that fact and stop pretending that it is.