Yeah its generally paid for specifically with property taxes if I'm not mistaken (that's how my local schools are funded). I take issue with that setup partly because I have little say in how schools are run, though I could run for the school board so at that point my inaction is kind of accepting the status quo.

Yes, at some point it boils down to “how much do you actually care?” I was in the same position when I lived in Texas; the local school board was insane, but I didn’t care enough (because my kids were in a Montessori school) to do anything about it.