Is public education really free in US ?

In the middle of real estate down turn, there are few areas still unaffected in almost every city (or metro area) of US. These areas are typically the "best school districts". Take Cupertino School District in South Bay Area ( Silicon Valley). Rentals and purchase prices are still rising though not as fast as their usual 10 % annual rate. Most advertisements around selling / renting are boldly captioned with the school district names to lure potential buyers. The premiums can be anywhere between 25 to 100 points depending upon the locations under comparison. Example - a decent single family home near Cupertino's best schools will run anywhere between a million to one and half while the same acco is easily available within 700 K in similar upscale areas but without the best schools. Almost 50 to 70 points lower.

So this is the price you pay for your kids (good) public education . Rentals are also almost one and half times. And this is not paltry. Even if one thinks of renting a house to somehow see thru eight to ten prime years of his life, its quite a fortune given 500 to 1000 dollars monthly rental difference.

The public education system in US was designed to give every child an equal chance . Every school has a fixed geographical coverage on map. Children in this area go to the same school irrespective of their social and economical status. This is not to say there aren't any private schools. There are many ; and some of the public schools also offer admissions to students beyond their home territory, on lottery basis. But both private and lottery based public schools are too tiny in comparison to huge state run public education system. If you could afford a private school or your child got lucky in striking the lottery jackpot , you should count yourself in may be less than one percent fortunate ones whose good karma in last life paid off now.

The system was designed on social benefit basis with noble intentions. But a socialistic behavior hardly has any chance of survival in capitalistic jungle. The market automatically raises the housing costs in the surrounding of better schools , making it almost impossible for the poor to break in. This means more well to to do people start getting into this area and whole lot of ancillary educational facilities (like private tuition centers) start flourishing, there by further boosting the scores and ratings of this school. This triggers the vicious cycle on , more pull and more premium until the social myth of free public education is corrected by market forces . ..

Eventually , there is no free lunch ..... and poor child is always left behind ..

Gandhi and Innovation

No one walked for a political purpose before Gandhi. Dandi Yatra was the first of it kind when Mahatma took a hundred mile walk to protest new "Salt Tax" imposed by then British Rule. In India, walking is very common, even today for religious rites, but walking for a political protest was totally unheard of. The innovation clicked with Indian masses as there were hardly any means of transportation in rural India. First time a leader reached the villages and involved them a greater mission. People used to walk for getting fire wood , for getting water and for daily chores. Now they were walking for freedom.

The idea has since been used in so many things. People walked for peace. They walked to fight Cancer and Aids. They walk to save the planet.

Same is true for principles of non -violence. Again the age old doctrine preached by Mahaveer and Gautam Buddha, was deployed for the first time in politics. Again the idea gelled with Indian masses who by default are non violent.

Innovation is about taking an established principle and deploying them in a totally new arena. The key , however, is the relevance , timing and execution. Walking and "non violence" worked for Indian masses but were totally alien concepts for British rule. British administration was left pondering. They had all the prep work done for someone willing to fight them. But how do you handle a protester who loves you ? How do you suppress a non violent protest ? What is there to suppress ?

Gandhi leveraged Indian culture to fight most powerful empire ever. Used non violence for fighting (look at the contrast) . One can argue if Gandhi brought freedom for India but we know for sure that Salt Tax was withdrawn after Dandi March :-)