And yet, schools are state funded and we can't affect them even in the Reddest of red states.
Yep, when Utah defeated vouchers I just about threw in the towel myself. I think the problem is just how sticky government money is. People just cannot imagine a free-market in education. The system is tied to property values, tax rates, and racism/elitism. We don’t want to make a bad situation worse. Plus, people are incredibly sympathetic to teachers.
I suspect that what will happen is a technological solution will come along that is so incredibly effective as to completely disrupt the government school system. It’s happening online in many ways and the understanding of the methodology of getting people educated customized to their personal learning styles is leaping ahead. The biggest obstacle to education reform is government regulation of education and the babysitting aspect.