<p>It's particularly frustrating to me: I was involved with a school bond campaign so that our small town could build our own high school and thus be a K-12 district. The bond passed, one of the few to pass in the past decade in the state of California. We had enough money to build the school and a family in our town offered to DONATE 100 acres of land for the high school site. All looked good. </p>
<p>Then the high school district held a meeting and pointed out that as a SMALL high school, our athletic teams would play in the small school league, but if our town gave the money from the bond to the high school district, they would build a BIGGER high school that would play in the larger school league. </p>
<p>I still remember that meeting: there was this sudden surge of parents saying "Well, of course we don't want OUR Johnny to play in the minor league! We want them to play in the BIG league!" The upshot was the money earmarked for the high school was thrown to the high school district, and we lost whatever control we might have had over the school. </p>
<p>It was one of the biggest disappointments in my life, and also the day I decided that I'd be shelling out bucks to send my kids to a school where academics matter more than athletics. :(</p>