Joseph- I can say that because innocent children who haven’t received a proper education have an extremely hard time getting one. They can’t work to pay for their own tuition, can’t exactly tell their parents to pay for it for them or to send them. They have little choice in the matter…
Kollel, on the other hand, is made up of older, married men who could have the ability to pay for their own learning. They are not required by halacha to sit there every single day if it is at the expense of their own children. Just by working (on the side or full time) does not make them automatically “less frum”. Becoming less frum is a choice and it is not necessarily true in most cases. Men can be kovei eitim and still stay as frum or grow to become “frummer”. Working and being less frum or Learning and being more frum are not proportional in any way. If working=being less frum then how could you take our money? Those with the money to pay for other people’s tuition are working… so you would have “non-frum” money paying for you to learn Torah? isn’t that a little counter-intuitive? How do you know that since “we arent frum” that our money isnt through illicit means?
I would rather pay for a non-frum child to become frum than pay for a guy who is frum to continue being frum…