I was talking to a friend of mine a while back who was interning with a state legislator. We got on the topic of bake sales for schools and my friend just about flipped his lid.

He went on a good 5 minute rant about how school budgets take these "bake sales" into account, with goals and measures. So in essence, bake sales allow for states to lower the amount of money they would normally get. (Let's ignore the fact that schools in affluent districts often have the time and resources to even have bake sales.)

No one wants to pay for schools. Schools don't win elections. Public safety does. You can still win an election if you don't fund a school but you won't win an election if you're "soft on crime".

Our entire system is fucked up.