My 6A program with 4 tubas was NEVER going to compete at area with the top 10 schools that had 15 tubas on the field and 5 more sitting on the sideline. No matter how good I taught. And no matter how well I recruited, my title one schools, both middle and high, would not have the numbers as some of those top 10 finalist programs. I loved my kids and loved my school and spent several decades teaching there because I didn't care about a state trip. I cared about teaching deserving kids to love music.

Simply saying to teach better is not a genuine or realistic answer. Too many other factors play in.

Those schools aren't spending more on football. They don't spend 20k to have someone write a custom playbook for them and then have 10 consultants come in and "coach" them. They hire coaches to do that and yes, they have a lot of coaches, (maybe 10) but those coaches are teachers first and making a few thousand dollars a season to also coach after school. And most of those coaches are going 7 days a week from August through November. Athletic budgets are set by the school just like band. How many different football jerseys do the players purchase? That's right. They don't. They use the uniform the district provides. You know, like those uniforms directors have hanging in the closet not using while having the kids purchase throw away tops to match the theme of the show.......