In this country we've decided that education is a public good and yet what we really mean is "just for the people closest to me" which doesn't make much sense to me.
This article has an interactive graphic to look at school districts near you. All the dollar amounts have been adjusted to regional costs.

Why America’s Schools Have A Money Problem
How much money a school can spend on its students still depends, in large part, on local property taxes. And many states aren’t doing much to level the field for poor kids.
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I think that there's a disconnect between a view that education is good, and the idea that public schools educate. Some do, most don't.
School systems are often in conflict with their communities, and lose support. There's a lot of graft and corruption in urban school systems, and they push ideological agendas that offend communities.
It is said by some that sending your child to public schools is parental malpractice at best, or even child abuse.
The amount spent per child is not a particularly useful gauge of educational merit. It's "seeing like a state", but not 20/20 vision.
Education at all levels is rapidly changing. The old industrial model of the current system is ill suited to the 21st century. It isn't obvious how, or how fast, the system can evolve, but there is no shortage of prescriptions, most of which involve information and communication technologies.
It's an interesting subject, but NPR, as usual, seems to lack education about it. There's a lesson in that.