Disturbia in Suburbia

I am a little disturbed.  It is no surprise since Arizona's schools rank 50th in the country that they are below par.  I feel like the school my children attend is in a great school district in an area where parents are involved and teachers go beyond their duty, yet students still suffer due to poor funding.  If schools in Utah can rank 20 states higher where teachers get paid 20% less then why can't we change this?  If you walk into the elementary school where my children attend in the middle of the day the hall lights are turned off to save money.  Dark in every place except the classrooms. My neighbor's child, who is in kindergarten, just received a note home saying they will not be having homework for the rest of the school year because they don't have enough paper to print it on and don't have the budget to buy more.  What is going on?  Am I the only one who is disturbed about this?  And we live in a great area.  What is school like in the poor regions of Arizona? I am usually not one to promote private or charter schools unless you live in the hood because it just takes the funding from your local school and benefits areas the other school is located in rather than the area where you reside.  I would rather rally the community together and make the local schools a strong one.  I guess I am just trying to figure out how to take action without first having to be elected to the school board.  We live in America where we have a voice... I guess I am just trying to figure out if it is worth turning the microphone on.  Any suggestions?