In the post-Reagan world, everything's supposed to be run like a business. The New York Times explains the possible consequences when that includes schools:

... one of the nation's largest charter school operators collapsed, leaving 6,000 students with no school to attend this fall. The businessman who used $100 million in state financing to build an empire of 60 mostly storefront schools had simply abandoned his headquarters as bankruptcy loomed, refusing to take phone calls. That left [Ken] Larson, a school superintendent whose district licensed dozens of the schools, to clean up the mess....

Thousands of parents were forced into a last-minute search for alternate schools, and some are still looking; many teachers remain jobless; and students' academic records are at risk in abandoned school sites across California....

"Until the Charter Academy went into its tailspin, few people predicted that these crashes could be so bloody, but this has been a catastrophe for many people," said Bruce Fuller, a professor of education at the University of California, Berkeley. "The critics of market-oriented reforms warned of risks with the philosophy of let-the-buyer-beware, but in this case, buyers were just totally hung out to dry."...

Then there's this AP story from a couple of days ago:

...Because of a budget crunch, California has suspended a tax credit that reimbursed teachers up to $1,500 for classroom supplies. Meanwhile, a $250 federal tax deduction for teachers that helped defray out-of-pocket spending expired this year....

The California credit was first offered in 2000 as a way to keep teachers from quitting. Teachers with four to 11 years in the profession received $250 to $500. Those more experienced could receive up to $1,500.

The credit was suspended in 2002 as state legislators battled a budget gap. It was resurrected for the 2003-04 tax year, at a cost of $180 million to the state. Last month, legislators suspended the relief until 2007....

Well, that's America. We won't even pay for all our kids' school supplies out of our taxes. In a pinch we won't even reimburse teachers who pick up the tab themselves. We think it's a plot to screw us when someone proposes the level of taxation that would actually fund the schools adequately, or come reasonably close; instead, we want some CEO (the post-Reagan equivalent of a knight on a white horse) to come along and just solve all the problems by waving the free-market magic sword -- we don't even mind throwing tax money at you if you're a CEO -- and we ignore the rather inconvenient fact that CEOs are quite capable of making mistakes, busting budgets, or failing altogether.

But hey, what the hell -- it's just our kids, right?

(AP link via Pandagon.)