Education: I just read a letter to the editor in the paper where...

[battleknight24]

... a guy says that only people who have kids in school should pay school taxes.

I am going to write a letter to the editor to argue why EVERYONE should pay the school tax. Can you help me come up with some of the best reasons.


Peace,


P.S. I know this sounds like a dumb question, but I am a very inarticulate person.

[jedr]

1. because I want my grandchildren to get a good education;

If you think education is expensive, try ignorance!

[SharonAnn]

15. Because I want the Aide at my Assisted Living Home to read the

directions for my medication and understand the directions.

Because I want the mechanic to know how to fix my car.

Because I want them to get jobs making lots of money so that they can support themselves, pay lots of Social Security taxes, and pay lots of income taxes.

Because it's really expensive providing for unemployed people in prison.

[jedr]

28. What rock were you hiding under?

[Lars39]

2. A well-educated population benefits everyone.

I'm blanking here, but I'll kick so maybe others can see this.

[EC]

3. Short and sweet

Everybody benefits from an educated populace...We need doctors, nurses, engineers, scientists, computer techs, emergency personnel, etc...all who know what they are doing, to provide professional services....would they rather have that EMT that comes to save their life some night to not know what they are doing?

[Lars39]

Or just not have enough EMTs, etc.

[yellowdogmi]

4. That in communities that don't support the schools,

schools deteriorate from the outside in and it lowers the resale property value locally. No one wants to buy in neighborhoods that have lousy schools.
The local districts that don't support the schools produce ne'er do wells that can not compete in the workforce and are a burdern on everyone. We should aspire to have the smartest children that will make all of us proud, not adequate children that are not inspired to reach their potential. That is off the top of my head. Hope some of it helps.

[EC]

16. You know, it's been so pathetic that I have had to resort

to property values with so many issues with so many Republicans...

[Solo_in_MD]

29. How about Hemet, CA (long time ago)

Wall to wall retirees. Real push to get anyone younger than 55 out of there many years ago. One of the targets was the school. No bonds ever. Have to wonder who they thought was going to pump gas and push their wheelchairs.

Background: We had property in an early private community there. Homeowners association tried to push an age restriction through, grandfathering current residents, but not the owners. They assumed that anyone lived there was an owner. In our case, my parents owned the property my grandparents lived in. When my brother tried to move in all after our grand parents moved to an assisited living community, all hell broke loose. We ended up being grandfathered in as well before it was all over. We have never signed the new CC&Rs.

[SheilaT]

5. Everyone benefits from a strong

school system, not just those who currently have kids in the public schools.

Actually, one of the reasons schools in the South have traditionally been less than wonderful is because that part of the country simply did not have a strong commitment to public education for a very long time. People in that part of the country typically sent their sons North for college, which is in so small part why so many of the very best schools in the country are there.

But I digress, and your guy will be quite unimpressed by that information.

You could try asking him who he thinks helped pay for his education, or his kids' (if he has any). Sometimes childless people are the hardest to convince, because they don't really get it that it will be someone else's kids who'll eventually be taking care of them in the nursing home.

He probably doesn't understand that Social Security is a pay as you go system, NOT a set aside of each person's specific money, as too many erroneously believe.

[applegrove]

6. Shared cost. Young families would have to choose between buying

a house vs. school fees. This way - all people pay school taxes and all people benefit from educated kids ready to go to work in the economy and get jobs and pay into social security while the old geezer who paid for public school - needs the money.

The concept of sharing the risk of school costs over generations. When only one generation out of three or 4 requires schooling - better to all put into the child.

This sounds to me like someone who just wants to destroy public schools alltogether. And private doesn't work for health care - it isn't going to work for the vast majority of kids.

And nothing is more important that public education for kids.

To give you an example - as part of dealing with anger at Brit control of Scotland - the elders there insisted that kids go to school in the mid 1700s. Why those first 10 generations of Scots did so well - because they were more educated that Brits or Americans or Irish or indian or chinese. Even the poorest were taught to read and write and add in scottish public schools.

So the idea that private schools can replace all - just puts the burden on families at a time when they should be saving to buy a house or living in a house and trying to pay mortgage. And owning a house is the biggest way that people become middle class.

Just a few ideas.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. I have never had children of my own

but I understand the importance of an educated society. When I go to a store, I expect the clerk to be able to help me with my purchase and make change correctly. When I get my taxes done, my roof repaired, or my plumbing worked on, I want to have someone doing it who knows their math. When I go to the doctor's office, I want trained people who know how to take care of me and diagnose any problems I may have.

[stillcool]

8. It used to be .....

...my understanding that society paid for the education of it's citizens because society reaped the rewards....those same kids will be your doctor, lawyer, banker, baker, candlestick maker, etc., It's another case of garbage in, garbage out. Of course, with our education system being what it is,...I'm not sure that argument is still valid.

[patrice]

9. Lack of Education results in decline of Economic Devlopment,

because the un-educated can't do the jobs that pay the best, so the good jobs and the good businesses go elsewhere. Lack of Economic Development results in less tax money for all of the programs upon which this man depends, from roads and severe weather warning systems, to hospital inspections and Social Security - Everything.

His attitude only makes sense if he is completely capable of surviving absolutely and entirely on his own, not using ANYTHING our economic system produces, not just government investment in services and infrastructure, but also private sector development. ALL of it needs an educated people to be productive.

If the economic system is destroyed because the people aren't educated, then the people can't earn enough to afford private education. It's a vicious circle. In a privately funded education system, No education = bad jobs = No education = Bad jobs . . . .

[havocmom]

10. People paid taxes so we all could go to school

and everybody benefits when there are functional, educated people to:
treat medical emergencies
become law enforcement officers and officers of the court
pave roads
build jets
fly jets
to the air traffic controlling so jets don't play bumper cars and land on houses
take care of your banking needs
develop new products to improve life
grow food
drive the food to the market
get the food on the shelves
ring up their purchases at the market
solve problems for cities and states
build trucks that haul off garbage
figure safe ways to store the garbage
take care of small children
take care of infirm elderly neighbors
give counseling to others who need help from time to time
help addicts become healthy again
become clerics to help with our spiritual growth
inspect food, water, buildings, workplaces to provide some level of safety to all
put out fires
cut lumber
build homes
create art
make clothing
write books
teach

Unless you live as a naked hermit in a cave and eat pond slime which you grow yourself, you are benefiting from public education. Having kids in school is not the only criteria for supporting it!

Tell 'em I said so ;)

[yellowdogmi]

23. Sorry Havocmom

I'm thinking the naked hermit rout might be interesting, except for the pond slime. *'s time in office have made me think of becoming a hermit and hiding till it's over. Of course that is just on the bad days. The rest of the days I am here trying to pitch in.

[bleedingheart]

11. think about the countries that have no public school systems...

and then think...would you want to live there?

[FloridaPat]

12. Being a never-had-children person, I would hate to see society

go back to the stone age just because the school couldn't get enough money for a decent education. No educated childre = no educated adults = a stupid country.

[Cleita]

13. I always thought that businesses and corporations should

pay taxes to fund free education all they way through university. After all, it's them that benefit from an educated workforce, so they should be asked to pay for it.

But that will happen when pigs fly so the rest of us have to do what is right for our children. Just because you never had children or don't have them now doesn't mean that as a community you should be involved in their nurture.

[Hello_Kitty]

14. I'm the most child-free person on the planet

And I don't have a problem paying taxes for school. Keeps the little buggers occupied. What, would the yoyo who wrote that letter prefer them running wild on the street?

I don't know if that's necessarily a persuasive argument, but that LTTE writer is an idiot. You could point out that people who don't support our adventure in Iraq have to pay taxes to support it. :shrug:

[SharonAnn]

17. Oh, he should start by repaying for his education. No way did his

parents pay enough to cover his education and that of any siblings.

Otherwise, it's a case of "I've got mine!""

[seabeyond]

18. how about, you got your education first and pay later......

so parents tax going in for their kids, is really payment for their own education they received. that way people without children cant claim that they shouldnt have to pay. if they had an education they pay now for their own.

[Liberal Gramma]

19. Hope to help

The goal of public education is to prepare the young for citizenship. As such, it is a governmental responsibility, not a parental one. We pay school taxes not to educate OUR children, but ALL children.

To exempt non-parents from taxes supporting schools would also set a precedent for exempting other non-users from supporting public services. Never had a fire? You get a pass on firestation support. Don't read? Scratch your library tax. Can't swim or play baseball? Guess you don't have to pay the parks and rec taxes. Being a member of society bestows optional benefits but exacts mandatory responsibilities.

[catabryna]

20. Sort of like Social Security...

people without children paid for me to be educated... and now it's my turn to return the favor (so to speak). I paid school taxes for 20 years before I had my only child and I was glad to do it.

[iamjoy]

21. Are We Better Off Now

than we were one hundred fifty years ago? I mean, as a society of course. One hundred fifty years ago there was no public funding of education, except for very limited progressive municipalities. Poverty was rampant, think third world country kind of poor.

It's a good question, are we better off now than we were then? If you think we are, vote Democratic. If you think things were better in the mid-nineteenth century, you're probably a Republican.

[mzteris]

22. Ask him if he

really wants to live in a community surrounded by un/under-educated people?

The people who wait on him and fix his car and where he banks and buys his insurance. The people driving cars on the road and VOTING in his area - does he want them all to be educated properly - or not? Would he rather be "surrounded by idiots?"

LOL

(Not that one has to go to school to be educated, of course - but for the general public - public education is the only option available for them.)

[Rainscents]

24. Tell him... Who paid for his and his families educations? Tax payers did!

Without everyone pitching in for educations, our nation cannot compete as we'll as have too many uneducated people, which mean, we'll be living as a third world country.

[sakabatou]

25. Because even if a child is not in school, they may be one day

and people will need to pay for the school to educate him or her.

[WLKjr]

26. Education is the only cure for poverty.

Like another poster said, a well educated populace benifits everyone. It's one of the reasons why all your technical support is based overseas now, they are being better educated than you are right now.

[1monster]

27. Most people received a free public education. Having received that

education, it is time to pass on the free public education to the future of this country.

A well-educated population is necessary for a strong economy.

National security: An uneducated nation of sheep will very soon beget a government of wolves. Evidence is overwhelming in the current government we have.

[LWolf]

30. The keystone of a vibrant, free, democratic society

is education. Every citizen has the right to vote. Educated citizens can cast an informed vote. They can research and analyze issues, and apply some critical thinking to the propaganda presented during campaigns. Without an educated citizenry, elections are decided by a few who convince the uninformed to "trust" their judgement and cast their vote obediently. Perhaps that is the "truth" behind the vicious assault public education has suffered under for the last few decades. The "few" want to control the vote of the "many."

As an educator, I believe that the sacred trust of public education is to make sure that every voter has equal access to the education that will help them be an informed, active participant in a free, democratic society. This sacred trust is as vital to the nation as a whole as the roads, street lights, fire departments, law enforcement, etc. that our taxes pay for. When informed, thinking citizens vote, everybody wins. When under-educated citizens vote, everybody loses.