Can’t speak for Chicago, but in my city the schools get similar funds on a per-student basis yet still have very large differences in academics from school to school.

The reason parents try to get into different schools isn’t to chase funding, it’s to get into the one with the best outcomes. A lot of that comes from parental involvement and having a critical mass of engaged students and parents, not the dollar amount spent on each student.

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triceratops 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Then "school district fraud" shouldn't be a problem. If a parent is willing to committing a crime to get their kid into a good school, they're heavily engaged and involved.

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Aurornis 3 hours ago | parent [-]

Schools have limited capacity. If they fill up with students from far away, nearby students who have a real right to be there get pushed out.

This isn’t a topic where you can think in terms of a single child only.

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triceratops 3 hours ago | parent [-]

School bodies expand and contract over time as the demographic makeup of a district and school changes. "Limited capacity" isn't strictly true.

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Aurornis 3 hours ago | parent [-]

School sizes do change over long time horizons as demographics grow. This is true.

But school buildings have limited capacity and teacher:student ratios should be maintained. These cannot be changed instantly. Planning happens according to people actually living there, so if a lot of people are circumventing the rules and cheating their way in it breaks the system.

	▲	triceratops 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> School sizes do change over long time horizons Not even very long horizons. For example, a hot housing market can cause a rush of young families into a district as older retirees cash out and move to Florida or whatever. Schools adapt to this. I agree following rules is important. What kind of example are you setting for your kids, right? But having some perspective is also important.

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pj_mukh 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

"A lot of that comes from parental involvement and having a critical mass of engaged students and parents, not the dollar amount spent on each student."

FYI, parent engagement is also heavily proportional to parent income/property prices.

Very hard to be engaged at school with double/triple working class jobs.