You are correct that there is no right answer. To remedy the failures of the public school system, would take several answers. Not just one. There are too many areas that have been subjected to the phrase, "we have to cut back on this". Don't you hate that?
While public schools are suffering a lack of funds in many areas, administrators and 30+ veteran teachers are scooping up all the gravy. These are the last people to feel any effects of a cutback. Sadly, positions of strength never, ever, ever take a cutback. They just step on the hand of those struggling to reach for a crust of bread beneath them. Pardon the drama.
Cutting back is not going to improve the quality of the system or the teaching. But administrators already know that. Cutbacks are just the fastest ways to save money and avoid disturbing any salaries above 100k.
Why would anyone in education, who knowingly enters the modest/humbling income field, grant themselves or anyone else more than 100k?
How can you possibly help the school if you give yourself a raise, then cut back on books, facilities, events, or teachers? You can't!!!!! But they aren't interested in books, facilities, events or teachers feelings (or meager salaries) they are trying to make up for lost time in the field by grabbing a high salary and power, which they never had while teaching a human being how to "read a book".
If the money isn't there, I understand. If the public schools have more kids than space, we cannot blame the school for reproduction. Granted I only have two children, but that is all I could afford to raise on our salaries. If I have 3 or more children in the school system, I would have to take a good look at myself and ask how I, and the the public school system, afford to raise them into adults.
Too many kids, not enough money to teach, feed, house and develop them all. Then, use the same amount of tax money to teach and develop a greater amount of kids from families all crammed into the same amount of district space. Well, I never hear any high paid teachers or administrators taking a pay cut just to make the budget more affordable.
If I had more than 3 or 4 kids, I suppose that I wouldn't have the time to work with all of them on their homework either. It would get past bedtime to help them all and at least one of them would go to school the next day with incomplete work or terrible work that they STILL don't understand. That is probably a good alibi for some public school families that breed too quickly. They don't know how to afford the time and money for this litter, but they have more kids anyway. When they fail to spend quality time with the children, fail to guide them on homework at home during the evening hours and refuse, or cannot afford, to pay for required supplies and tools to help the child....yes, they blame the teachers. Not themselves, not the system, but the poor INTERESTED, CONCERNED teacher.
When the teacher reaches a position of tenure (that is an career long "get out of jail free card) then the parents and school system can't do anything to correct their lackluster teaching or behavior. I paid union dues as a teacher's aide, then only one year as a teacher, then got cut. The union did nothing for me, it only protects the already protected tenure teachers who fail at their jobs and lose passion for teaching after so many years. Arizona has a concept that demands teachers to "qualify" for their jobs regularly, no hand holding there. If you aren't teaching, you're out! If you can't follow orders, you're out. If you can't meet the standards and help children learn....you're out.
So, between the lawyers who overcharge for their input and "paperwork", the administrators who shuffle papers and cut out everything that helps a student learn and grow and the worthless unions, who take, take, take the dues and don't "do" anything for the teachers....a lot of things contribute to the problem of why public school systems are failing.