1st: Brainstorm exactly how many high school students a team should have in order to be successful with a robot and general team dynamics.
Lets say... that most of the stronger teams out there are great because they have at least 25 dedicated high school students.
There are many teams out there with so few students that the they are always struggling in competition. Assume that these teams are also struggling with financing too.
Split up the $250,000... and use the money for grants. An underdeveloped team may apply for the grant, but the terms are that they must attract at least 25 students. They would need to visit neighboring high schools or do whatever is necessary to recruit those 25.
I spun off this idea because I've noticed many teams with too few students to keep up with the work. And many high schools and areas in the country with no ivolvement. So instead of starting more teams... improve the quality of the ones we already have. That will take some sharing of the wealth.
To the teams who are already strong, the grant money could cause initiative to pair up other teams with other schools, or start more large teams in their relative areas.
Just a thought... I'm sure i'll have more
