My guess is that this money is well spent even if some of it is wasted. Some of any money would be wasted of course. I read that Headstart is money well spent.
And yes, we'd all prefer a world where parents took the responsibility.
My kids' school system had a large number of AFDF students in it. They had incorporated decades ago a largely black school district. Fortunately, they had gobs of money. I saw quite a few of those underprivileged kids go on and do very well because they had a chance, which they would not have had in the old school district. I like to focus on them versus the kids who didn't take advantage of that chance.