As Forrest's mom used to say, "Stupid is as stupid does."

I live in a bedroom community outside Indianapolis. There’s really no local industry. The main artery that leads to the interstate that rings Indy, and on into Indy, is busy twice a day in the directions you’d expect.

I like it because it’s fairly quiet, home prices were not inflated for the name of the town, major shopping and downtown culture are a 30-minute drive away, and I can be out in the country in 5 minutes. People are friendly here, but they’re friendly throughout central Indiana. There’s also a bit of an independent streak here that’s hard to put your finger on.

Maybe too independent. They held a special election yesterday to raise $96 million for the public schools. It was defeated.

Market segmentation folks characterize my zip code as families with upper-middle incomes who have traditional values, lucrative blue-collar jobs, and who spend the discretionary income left over from moderately-priced homes on sporting goods, pickup trucks, and the like. I’d say the values extend to people of all ages wearing as little as possible while grocery shopping, appreciation of the finer points of NASCAR racing, advanced modifications of automotive exhaust and sound systems, fast food, garage sales, and an incessant and fanatical devotion not so much to the art of grooming lawns as to the process of lawnmowing. (I’m also convinced there’s a local ordinance that prohibits any two homeowners from mowing at the same time.) Internal combustion engines of all displacements figure prominently in the lifestyle.

The percentage of students in the local high school planning to enter college in the 2007-08 tally was an abysmal 58. The state average in a state not known for its intellectual capital as much for its production of biofuels and an annual car race (although there are some fine universities) is 77. Similar neighboring communities like Plainfield and Greenwood have rates of 76 and 80, respectively. Higher-end towns like Fishers and Carmel clock in at 82 and 93.

But why lug all those books when there are so many high-paying jobs in manufacturing? At one time, our county was home to a cottage industry requiring expertise in chemistry – the making of crystal methamphetamine. Eventually those jobs went to Mexico. (Is nothing sacred?)

It’s true that the quality of education is more than brick and mortar. For as long as anyone can remember, in Indiana, even the poorest school districts had athletic facilities that rivaled those of the Big Ten. There were no poor school construction contractors in Indiana. Incoming Governor Mitch Daniels promised to change all that in his first State of the State Address in 2005. He kept his word. Now, school construction projects are no longer state-funded, and those over $20 million require voter approval.

I get it.

What I don’t get is that the property taxes I pay here twice a year I would have been happy to pay for one month in previous homes (in states that, yes, also had a state income tax and a sales tax).

What I also don’t get is that parents who have gotten as far as they have on what education they have, and who claim to want the best for their kids, are willing to buy everything under the sun for them except a shot at an education that doesn’t come courtesy of an athletic scholarship.