A good look at what is really wrong with property tax funded school systems

[WCGreen]

writen by the man responsible for giving me a platform to vent my views before the internets kicked in, Larry Durstin, he explains some of the issues involved with school funding and challenges the teacher unions to get behind the revamping of the way we fund education here in Ohio and many other states...

But let’s leave aside for a moment the critical battle over collective bargaining and focus on what needs to be done to produce an education system that’s geared to creating a better future for the state’s children. First and foremost what must be kept in mind is that nothing is going to dramatically change for many Ohio school systems until the state’s current obscene manner of school-funding is fed to the fishes and a more equitable one is put in its place. Which is exactly what the Ohio Supreme Court said in the DeRolph case over a decade ago when it called the existing funding system “unconstitutional” because of its over-reliance on local property taxes and ruled that the state’s public school financing method “must undergo a complete systematic overhaul.”

http://www.clevelandfreepress.com/content/5102


I don't always agree with Larry and of course, he doesn't always agree with me, but why would any thinking person wato readead only opinions that reinforce what you think.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. I really agree with what he says here:

..."the American system of local school control – with its life and death dependence on community property taxes for financing – is Jeffersonian democracy at its worst and is the single biggest problem facing education in this country. It formalizes the brutal inequities between the haves and have nots and results in severe economic and social ills...

This type of school financing is just what the Republicans want, which is largely why it persists. They want the haves to get more money than the have-nots, thus guaranteeing that the Republicans will enjoy better education for their children.

They think that God is rewarding them, or some such clap-trap. :eyes:

Many of us enjoy reading opinions that reinforce our own...it's easier to do, and it feels good!

[CreekDog]

2. I did a little calculation of property taxes on my street (my side of my street)

2008 property tax bills: $31892
2010 property tax bills: $25735

(those figures are the *bills*, not the collected amount. we don't have any foreclosures among those, though we have 1 short sale.)

do the math: 19% reduction in 2 years. how is a county supposed to fund its schools based on that kind of decrease? can you pay everyone 19% less? can you give each student 19% less education? is that even fair?

anyone who says we have to only talk about spending is WRONG. we have to talk about increasing revenue or perhaps moving funds from one program to another --but the only thing government program that hasn't been decimated or isn't fully tapped right now is defense spending .


(yes i know it's federal --so what, the US Gov't can fund schools directly on a per pupil basis? sure they can --they could fully fund them if they wanted)

[DURHAM D]

3. You must live in one of the few places where property taxes have gone down.

[CreekDog]

6. if the rate stays the same but the value goes down (housing bust)

then that's how it happens.

and i really think they should just raise income taxes on the higher earners to make up for it.

but i'd pay more property tax to avoid cuts in education funding or help to those in need.

the advantage of doing it through the income tax is that if you're broke, as you say you are, then when you are making more money, you can contribute more, while making less, you won't need to. that's also the downside to property taxes, if they go up too much, you may not be able to pay.

[eilen]

4. Mine have gone up and are still rising..... nt

[Historic NY]

5. Mine too and they snatched a 3% tax on utility bills too....the well is dry.