>>
>>So (jumping in here) You're ok with poor states having worse services than rich states ?
>>
>Where does that stop?
>Should you and I be worrying about schools in Tahiti?
>
>
>>Shouldn't action like "NJ has laws that control the distribution of school funds and the poor districts get more aid than the affluent districts" be applied nationally ?
>
>In fact, there's a strong movement here to stop giving more funds to poorer districts because studies have shown that performance actually went down as more funds came into the districts.
>
>A large slice of my school tax bill here in Hamilton can be attributed to the fact this town receives relatively less state aid than, say, Newark does. Hamilton, by any definition, is not an affluent school district.
>
>If we look at the record, we see that these formulas were worked out by politicians backed by teachers unions from the areas getting extra aid.
>
>So what sounds like a good idea, in fact, doesn't work the way it was intended to.
>
>In any case, the closer these decisions are to the people affected by them, the better I like them.

Well I'm English so my opinion may not count but (there's always a but)

IMO part of the success of the USA is its size and if you want to be in it then yes you do have a responsibility for every bit of it.