BSD:
My (grumpy) thoughts:
There will never be a solution for the tuition crisis. The amount of money that is needed to pay the teachers that are mechanech our children will always be larger than the amount of money that parents of most families can pay. As long as we believe in universal yeshiva schooling (which we do), the costs will be too high for most, especially with many people unable to earn a living due to the economy, education, peer pressure, etc.
The problem is when parents say “I give up, why bother working if its all going towards tuition anyway”. And who can blame them? They are right.
If you want out, homeschool. Or you can create a school on your own where you only accept those who pay full tuition (which will be lower than regular schools, as they have to cover those who can not pay), but expect universal schooling to fail.
To recap. The costs of schooling are too high to be covered by the average parent, with (BH) many children. Therefore, tuition will always be too high.
Now you will ask me what they did in Europe? They did not have the costs we have, as the Mechanech lived like everyone else, in poverty. Here, we have no clue (in the most case) what poverty means (BH for MOFES!). Poverty means you went for days on end without wood for your house (which was the size of a shed from Home Depot). No running water or electricity. No health care (unless you count Bankes). In addition, most children (even in the USA in the 30’s) left yeshiva/school to earn a living. Contrast that to the USA in 2009, where everyone NEEDS…..