All of you make good points. I hope I can take some time to think about it before replying. I will try to get back to everyone that I don’t address in this post.
GAW – According to your logic, it is the obligation of the greater community to provide schooling. This logic is the same used by the US Government, leading to the institution of public schools and education standards. Great. I agree. But taking that analogy to the frum communities, that would mean that the burden should be placed on the COMMUNITY to fund the local yeshivos. Not just on the school parents who have the ability to pay. So don’t feed me the line that the destitute families are entitled to bleed dry the ones who are squeaking by (pun intended). The parents with the ability to pay should not be forced to pay more than full tuition (defined as the ACTUAL cost of schooling a child). Those who cannot shoulder the burden should not be allowed to pass their burden onto other parents; if anything, they should pass it on to the entire community equally.
Just a quick answer to the points about paying teachers a decent wage: If administration is centralized, then wages and benefits would be uniform for all participating schools. The only differences would be regional adjustments (A NYC school would pay their teachers fractionally more than a Lakewood one) and these differences would also be reflected in the tuition. Obviously, the wages would have to be adequate (though not luxurious).
Part of my idea is that with true financial experts managing the enormous cash flows, the money can be stretched as far as it is prudent to. The average yeshiva administrator does not have this type of expertise, and though he or she no doubt does his best, that is just not comparable to the job a Wall Street pro can do.