What might explain this unusual turn of events?

Allow the WSJ to explain: Arizona governor Doug Ducey has come up with a plan to spend $2 billion more on public schools over the next decade–without raising taxes. According to his plan, the money would go directly into the classroom, rather than though the public school bureacracy’s normal funding process.That’s a big deal in Arizona, which spends a smaller portion of its education budget in the classroom (54%) than is typical of other states (61%).

The [negative]reaction to Ducey’s plan seems to be spearheaded by Michael Cowan, the superintendent of Mesa Public Schools, Arizona’s largest district,who launched an email and robocall campaign to turn parents against the proposal.Why? Well, naturally: “for the children.” How preventing an increase in classroom spending might help children may not be obvious to everyone,so the WSJ helpfully offers an alternative explanation for district officials’ opposition: “Mr. Ducey’s plan disrupted the usual coalition of teachers unions and public school districts, leading some in the K‑12 establishment—those administrators and union officials who have a way of soaking up dollars while doing little for students—to take the unfamiliar position of objecting to new education funding.” either that, or, somehow(?), “it’s for the children.”™

If only there were a system for organizing economic activity under which revenues are most easily raised by better-serving one’s customers or by attracting additional ones. And if only that system had been shown to work in education  just as in other fields.