The following is an idea that popped into my head this morning. Please feel free to comment and critique as I would like to develop this into a larger, tighter piece.
Imagine a stock car racing circuit where every team starts with the same basic "stock" car that they can improve, modify, and maintain as they wish. If the cars were unaltered and basically identical, then the drivers would be the primary variable in the competition. However, in this circuit, different teams have vastly different resources. Some are able to keep their cars in garages or shops, equip them with the latest technology, power them with the richest fuels, and hire an experienced crew and driver. Others have no extra money to improve and maintain their car. In fact, some even struggle to pay for fuel and new tires.
The league wants robust competition and so they have stringent guidelines for teams. If a driver is performing poorly, his team's compensation will be cut as an incentive to do better. A "failing" team will have to undergo frequent qualifying trials to show their fitness to compete. If this doesn't motivate them to succeed, there will be more trials and more cuts. Although the cuts cause ever greater damage and distress to the car, the driver will be ultimately responsible for losses. He is at the wheel, and it is his job to drive faster than the other cars. Struggling teams end up using all their resources just to survive the tests. Some, seeing the impossibility of the demands before them, resort to cheating.
Drivers and crew who can leave for teams with better records- not because they believe their car can't win, but because they know that under the current system their team will not receive the resources it needs to improve. Others leave just to escape the stigma attached to losing teams. Some of the drivers are talented and motivated, others are average or worse. But none could overcome the advantage held by teams with greater resources.
All the while, the car rusts from lack of shelter and cleaning. Tires and belts deteriorate. Scratches and dents go unfixed. Fans and sponsors recede as they lose faith that the car can succeed.
A NASCSR / Ed.Reform analogy in terms of resources is weak based on the inherent significant differences in their purpose of existance, end goals, and overall importance in the scheme of things. NASCAR is entertainment and if it disappeared tomorrow, the world would hardly notice. Education, on the other hand, is synonymous with being human, in fact, synonymous with being. We know, for instance, throughout most of homosapiens sapiens 70,000,000 years on this planet, large amounts of critical survival (life) information was past on from generation to generation in such an effective manner to allow us to thrive and inhabit the entire planet. This was done with zero funding.
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