This is from a PBS article by Judy Woodruff. It is old, 2008 old, but I didn’t find anything newer to explain. This is the info that I was discussing. Will add another link to exp;lain, too.
‘So where does the bulk of the money for our 14,000 public elementary and secondary school districts schools come from? State and local governments. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, state and local funding accounts for approximately 93 percent of education expenditures.
What’s the source of these funds? In most states, it’s sales and income taxes (both corporate and personal). But on a local level, these funds usually come from property taxes, which are set by the school board, local officials or citizens. It’s this system that causes the most dramatic differences between states, and even within districts.’
http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/10facts/index.html?exp
“‘So where does the bulk of the money for our 14,000 public elementary and secondary school districts schools come from? State and local governments.”
Everybody knows that, but the FED money comes from DC and schools lose that money if they don’t do as the FED says.
It may only be 15-20% of the budget, but few schools could afford to lose it and remain open.