Let me add two things then:

(1) The amount any school spends per pupil is primarily a reflection of teacher salary as that relates to student-teacher class ratios. In high poverty schools, many students qualify for remedial courses (I am trying to keep the langauge simple; it varies a bit technically on some of this) that are federally funded, which carries restrictions on class size. That said, our impoverished schools show high $$$ spent per pupil because many of the students are in small classes mandated by law, while more affluent schools have twice the number of students per class. That dynamic can effectively cut per pupil spending numbers in half or even 2/3s!

(2) If we look closely at which schools are successful at soccer, three factors are extremely significant:

(a) Affluence (see the beginning of this topic)
(b) Open enrollment (the huge advantage of private schools, and some public schools)
(c) Participation by players with club experience

If we wish to level the playing field (and we should), open enrollment issues and advantages enjoyed by private schools can be addressed easily by the HSL and concerned ADs. Make everyone play by the same rules. Simple enough. For example, classify all schools with open enrollment as AAAA. Problem (b) solved.

(a) and (c) are SOCIAL issues. Chico has weighed in on this issue before. In the bigger scheme of things this soccer issue parallels academic success, and my experience is that we really don't care in our society that those in poverty have huge disadvantages. I would love to be proven wrong. Will clubs and communities work together to encourage all children to play soccer by offering scholarships? That is a start. But high school soccer programs themselves need better money and better field, equipment, etc, and we need to continue to increase the professional level of coaching at the high school level.

Since (a) and (c) take $$$, it will be interesting if we ever make any effort to level the playing field.