But are we “spending less” on students that “pay their own way”? Private schools are getting massive amounts of taxpayer money, and can use their funds to pay better salaries (therefore drawing teachers out of the public system), build better facilities, and so on. Meanwhile they are academically selective and therefore don’t act as a catchment for capacity that the public system can’t handle. Public schools however have to scrounge for the essentials and can’t compete when it comes to salaries and facilities. That’s just not right.