Public Schools: Schools Yes, Taxes No

In Chattanooga last month, despite endorsements from civic organizations, PTAs and school officials, voters rejected a $10 million school bond issue. At the same time, citizens of the Center school district in Kansas City, Mo., were turning down—for the third time in a row—a $600,000 bond issue to build a new elementary and junior high school. The same week, homeowners in Ann Arbor, Mich., refused to approve a real estate tax hike to pay for teachers' salary increases; the teachers are now threatening to strike.

Across the U.S., a growing number of...