Actually, textbooks and library books are funding in NYS for private schools through state money. I don’t know all the details, but it is an exception to the non funding of yeshivos. (Certain technology is also funded occasionally by the state). In addition certain services (such as bussing) are funded by the city for private school students. (Education is for the most part funded jointly by state and local government) (A lot of this is due to the strong Catholic lobby in NY for many years.)
Wolf’s main point however, is the truth. I don’t think the public school system will be happy to have tens of thousands of new students — it doesn’t really mean “larger budgets” — the money has to come from somewhere! (An individual school may receive a larger proportion of funds if it has larger enrollment, but he overall city wide and state wide budgets will not grow just because more kids are enrolled, unless taxes are raised dramatically)
However it makes no difference if they want us or not — the school system is required to accept us. If it means putting 40 or 50 kids in a class, leasing the now empty yeshiva buildings, turning gyms or offices into classrooms,etc. It would wreak havoc on the system but they’d have no choice. They still could not fund a yeshiva as a yeshiva.
At most it would put pressure on the state to authorize more charter schools, but the rules covering charter schools would also prevent the type of restrictive admissions most yeshiva parents want, and preclude teaching Kodesh.
shev you suggested– “Then we should attend their schools in large numbers and take over the school making it essentially a Jewish city school. The same way the Spanish, Chinese, blacks dominate entire schools in their districts. We would then have control over how the school is run.”
The idea of large numbers of Yeshiva students attending local public schools, with “after school” limudei kodesh was raised a while back in the 5 towns. Particularly in certain areas there, where small, local school boards run the system (and frum Jews can easily vote in their own people), and the non Jews in the neighborhood are of higher socio-economic background, some people were floating this idea. You must realize however, that the public schools would still be required to be exactly that — teaching their own curriculum, accepting everyone, etc. Your “control over how the school is run” would be limited by the applicable laws. Your child would NOT be getting a yeshiva education, even in a school dominated by frum Jews. I think most yeshiva parents will continue to pay whatever is necessary to prevent going back to the era of frum kids going to public school.
And if you live in the NY city proper, you will continue to have no voice in the school even if frum kids dominate, and your child will still be attending school with the rest of the kids in your neighborhood.
Bottom line, an unfair as it feels that our taxes fund the schooling of everyone but our own kids, it is a result of our own choice, and major structural legal changes would have to happen for this to change.