Thus, spiritually inclined people understand that the establishment of school systems to train the citizens of the future is very important and cannot be entirely done by private endeavors.
I consider myself "spiritually inclined" (I'm an Observant Jew) and I do not understand how the establishment of school systems cannot be entirely done by private endeavors. How does confiscating wealth from unwilling donors jive with The Eight Commandment, "Thou shalt not steal"?
Perhaps a personal story will help explain my position. My father lost his job when I was very young and our family struggled financially as a result. However, my parents valued a religious education that could not be provided by the public school system. Unfortunately, they did not have the financial ability to send my sister and I to private religious school. Yet because of the altruism of strangers, my sister and I never stepped foot in public school. You can read about the program we participated in
here.
When Jews were first immigrating to this nation in large numbers around the turn of the century they were almost universal in their praise of the public school systems in the large cities. These helped them assimilate and often made them feel part of a nation of their own for the very first time. This is one of the most important roles of a public school system to bring some degree of unity from our many peoples. It has sadly been neglected and perverted of late.
What you say of your family is also true of the Jewish people as a whole but what about those whose family backgrounds place no such value on education? Won't our entire nation suffer when those children are not acceptably educated?
My background is from the deep south where education was not valued. Should I therefore have been denied an education because my parents could/would not pay for it (there were 7 sons in my family, my mom had an 8th grade education)? We must look beyond our individual self (and even self interest) when making decisions that affect society as a whole.
Taxation is not theft when imposed by lawful means.