These are great questions. I really think they can be addressed.I believe I addressed the renter situation in my original post (in the same way you proposed). Property taxes are just as costly for renters as they are for homeowners. Now, more importantly, what is a "worse school"? Simple. As far as any parent is concerned, it's any school they don't want their child attending instead of their neighborhood school. Whether it's due to education quality, length of commute, or gang presence. More specifically, it's a school I wouldn't want my child attending unless I'm paid at least x dollars. Let's take your example. Let's say you live in the neighborhood of Nathan Hale. However, the city would prefer that someone of your child's race or income or whatever attend the Magnet school further away. If your prefer that Magnet school yourself because of its higher Ivy League acceptance rates, you'll jump at the offer before someone else takes it. Everybody's happy. If you feel the bad outweighs the good somewhat, you'll wait until the city offers $500 or whatever sum you're happy with (the tax difference just seems like a good amount to start the bidding). Again, nobody really loses. The other kids win, theoretically, because they have more diversity, the city wins for the same reason, you and your child win because you got satisfactory compesation for your move. What's the issue?