School districts spend a lot of time trying to make the money match the mission.
Administrators and school boards haggle endlessly, moving the pieces in a puzzle that will provide children with the best education possible within the framework of the available finances. An amazing arts program would be fantastic, but the money is needed for reading. Advanced Placement classes would be great, but the basics are what the tests measure. Small class size is ideal, and a new computer lab would be valuable, but the core needs are always prioritized.
They have to be, because a school district’s budget is like a senior citizen’s pension. Its edges are fixed by the parameters of its tax base. It can’t expand the borders. It can’t create more land or more taxpayers.