How else can you do it though? We cant do it on the national level because the people we elect to lead us barely have the brain capacity to tie their own shoes. You cant do it on the state level because budgets are tight and, well not to get too political, but state government conservatives (and Dems for a different reason) want it brought down even farther figuring local cities and towns should have the say over how their kids learn. Both sides want as many chances to gain influence, and the more school boards there are, the more chances to gain a foothold.
Plus, lets say you cut the districts in half...that increases the cost of busing (sometimes greatly as districts can be large and now you would be doubling their size) and it could require more schools be built as some districts are more modern than others and population differences could lead to overcrowding.
Then comes the question of, who is in charge? Is the curriculum set up by the state? Instead of each district having a governing body to vote on district matters is a statewide body going to do so? That just isnt feasible and will fail just like a federal body would.
Your metaphor falls short. No business would have 501 branches (except maybe banks) but they would also have a strong centralized leadership. There is a corporate board of directors that make the decisions and each manager at each plant puts it forth. That model cant work in schools because each city (or town or parrish or whatever) is different and each state is different. Who is going to set the guidelines and make sure they are fair?
