It's not free here either, we also pay school taxes if you own property, it's part of your rent if you don't, BUT... If you are extremely poor, you can get welfare and assisted housing, so you don't need to dig into your pocket to send your kids to school. Basically, the poor get the same education and go to the same schools as the middle class (I say middle class because obviously the private schools are not accessible to them). The choice of sending your kids to school or spending the $$ elsewhere is taken out of their hands...