As many have said, Torah education is not a luxury but a necessity. And let’s face it, most frum families could not give a proper Torah education on their own – they need a well run school.
However, what is a luxury is a Torah education at a frills-laden school such as our present day Yeshivos Ktana, Bais Yaacovs, Mesivtas, etc. When I went to school (which, if you recall my old posts, was when Arnold Fine was in diapers) a Torah school was a building with a mainstream curriculum and hardly a frill to be found. A science lab was a room with a sink and a gas hookup for bunsen burners.
It is wonderful that the present day schools have multiple curriculum tracks, resource rooms, cutting edge technology, and myriads of other educational frills. It is wonderful that the buildings are air-conditioned to 5 degrees below what the kids’ parents keep their own homes. All this is wonderful – but it is a large part of why yeshivos are unaffordable.
I am a strong believer that if you can’t afford it, it’s not worth having. And the yeshivos (read: parent body) cannot afford the frills.