I feel very sorry and terrible for parents who want to put their children in private schools and cannot possibly afford it. Too many public schools are practically a death sentence to a decent future.
My wife and I live in the outskirts of a major city but within the city school district. The public schools stink, and that became an issue because we were considering taking full-time custody of a greatniece and didn't want her to go to the public schools. So we started looking for potential alternatives.
We found and toured a local Catholic school that was just fantastic. Great administrators, teachers, very highly rated. Best of all we learned that the city would give vouchers so it would actually be completely free.
We found in talking to the principal that about half of the students were actually from suburbs, and their parents paid the full $12k tuition each year because the school was so good. So here's the kicker - the school is required to take city residents first - meaning that despite it being a great school and absolutely free for city residents, city parents didn't send their kids there.
That was just astonishing to us. Here's a great, free school to send your kids to, without any of the big city problems, but city parents couldn't be bothered to send their kids there. It was suburban parents, whose own school districts were far better than the city's, who nevertheless paid the premium out of their own pocket so their kids could attend this school.
School problems aren't about a lack of money. They're about parents who simply don't care enough about their kids' educations.
You’re right—private school is out of reach for a lot of families (and some private schools are still centers of indoctrination).
But there are affordable alternatives.
Lots of homeschooling parents now pool resources, hire tutors together, or form small learning pods that work almost like micro-schools. They’re not full private schools, but they give kids structure and good instruction at a fraction of the cost. There’s more flexibility out there than most people think.