Article Launched:07/27/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT
http://www.sbsun.com/pointofview/ci_6474878
School's out for summer, but it's no reason for
Since its creation, the Teacher's Tax Credit has provided over half a billion dollars in tax relief for
The state Senate, which has stalled passage of the Assembly's version of the budget, should refuse to pass any budget that permanently repeals this vital tax credit. Republican state Senators, all of whom publicly signed Americans for Tax Reform's Taxpayer Protection Pledge, especially, have motivation to oppose this blatant tax increase.
In 2000, the Legislature created the tax credit to combat two common problems plaguing teachers: high out-of-pocket classroom expenses and terrible teacher retention rates. By the time the state's education dollars trickle down to the classroom, very little money is left over for common classroom supplies.
However, the second objective - teacher retention - has drawn criticism from the Legislative Analyst's Office, the state's nonpartisan budget analyst. Earlier this year, the LAO released a report claiming that the tax credit has had little to no effect on keeping teachers from leaving the education profession. This criticism has fueled the covert move to eliminate this tax credit.
Although the LAO's criticisms are not without merit, it is difficult to assess the tax credit's effectiveness when considering the Legislature's inconsistent application of the tax credit. In four of the past six years,
Admittedly, there are flaws with the current administration of the Teacher's Tax Credit. For example, new teachers, those with less than four years experience in the profession, are ineligible for the tax credit. New teachers arguably incur more expenses than experienced teachers, who already have previous year's supplies and instructional materials.
The California Federation of Teachers estimates that half of new teachers do not make it past their fifth year teaching. Consequently, almost half of all teachers never see the tax credit. Such flaws are reasons to amend, not end, the tax credit. The Legislature would be wise to spend its time improving the Teacher's Tax Credit, instead of cutting the tax credit altogether just to make their summer vacations.
Teachers should be reimbursed for their out-of-pocket classroom expenses, and tax credits give each teacher the greatest flexibility to decide the classroom supplies they need most. The state Legislature has the unenviable task of closing a $2 billion budget gap, but the $165 million Teacher's Tax Credit is only milk money out of the state's $140 billion budget.
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