LEXINGTON — A wealthy Massachusetts suburb just gave itself a $660 million public high school, complete with state-of-the-art facilities — and taxpayers across the state, including Boston, are helping pick up the tab.

Yes, really.

Lexington voters overwhelmingly approved the project, which will rank among the most expensive public school buildings ever constructed in Massachusetts. Supporters say it replaces an aging campus and prepares students for the future. And for families in Lexington, that may be true.

But the price tag tells a bigger story — one Beacon Hill would rather not advertise.

Roughly $121 million of the project will be reimbursed by the Massachusetts School Building Authority, meaning residents in cities and towns that will never see a school like this are still paying into it. Boston taxpayers included.

At the same time, Boston students are filing into school buildings that date back 80, 90, even 100 years. Aging classrooms. Outdated layouts. Deferred repairs. Endless studies. Endless excuses.

This isn’t about attacking Lexington parents. They played the game — and won. The real issue is that Massachusetts has designed a system where the richest towns are best positioned to extract the most benefit, while everyone else waits.

If you have million-dollar homes, a strong bond rating, and voters willing to approve massive debt exclusions, the system works beautifully. If you don’t, you’re told to tighten your belt.

In Lexington, the median home price now sits well north of $1 million. That’s the real admissions requirement. Call it public education if you want — but access to the best schools is effectively gated by real estate prices.

Boston homeowners, meanwhile, are being warned about fiscal cliffs, enrollment declines, and the need for “tough choices.” Property taxes are rising. Budgets are tightening. And yet, somehow, there’s always money when affluent suburbs come knocking.

The contrast is hard to miss: Luxury campuses for wealthy towns. Patience and paperwork for cities.

State leaders insist the system is fair. The numbers say otherwise.

Massachusetts doesn’t officially fund schools by zip code — it just quietly rewards the zip codes that can borrow big, build fast, and navigate the bureaucracy best. The result is a public school system that increasingly looks less like a ladder of opportunity and more like a mirror of the housing market.

The Lexington vote didn’t break the system. It exposed it.

Until Beacon Hill is willing to admit that its school funding model favors wealth over need — and leverage over fairness — this pattern will repeat itself again and again.

Shiny new schools for those who already have plenty. And aging classrooms for everyone else — still paying the bill.