Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

  • Shop
  • Subscribe to BMG
  • Contact
  • Log In
  • Front Page
  • All Posts
  • About
  • Rules
  • Events
  • Register on BMG

“Taxing schools rather than the rich”

December 3, 2017 By Charley on the MTA 13 Comments

Via Diane Ravitch, this post by Jeff Bryant lays out how the GOP tax bill will cripple public education, which is the crown jewel of Massachusetts’ quality of life.

Both the Senate and House bills propose an excise tax on private college endowments with assets of more than $100,000 per student. Endowment funds are used to help pay for academic programs, campus facilities, and student services, private college leaders and advocates say.

The biggest threats to local schools in both plans are their proposals to end federal deductions for state and local taxes (SALT) that households take when they itemize. The House plan limits the pain with a $10,000 ceiling, but the Senate plan does away with the deduction altogether.[This is apparently back in the Senate bill.]

Any reduction to the SALT federal subsidy will imperil the largest sources of school funding to education by eliminating the federal tax benefit to schools, discouraging new state and local tax initiatives to support schools, and pressuring state and local officials to cut local taxes to appease tax payers who can no longer deduct those taxes from their federal returns.

Another feature of the House bill that the Senate also proposes would increase how much schools pay for long-term debt by eliminating a tax exemption school districts get when they refinance their debts at lower interest rates using certain types of bonds.

According to Education Week, in the most recent year reported, districts carried $409 billion in long-term debt – a rate of $8,465 per student – and paid $17 billion in interest on those loans. Taking away any ability to write off some of that interest as a tax exemption would decrease money districts have to pay for teachers and student learning opportunities.

This is the federal government coming in and crushing us, on behalf of billionaires and no one else. The US Congress is “going Galt.”

Please share widely!
fb-share-icon
Tweet
+2
0

Filed Under: Editor Tagged With: education, GOP tax bill, taxes

Comments

  1. seascraper says

    December 3, 2017 at 1:17 pm

    This is interesting because the Republicans don’t really seem sure that eliminating the SALT deduction will have the effect you are afraid of. But if it does then it makes even more sense for them to do it, because it will lead to the election of more Republicans in the Democratic monopoly states like Massachusetts and California.

    I take issue with public primary school education being some sort of crown jewel in Massachusetts. School is a chore. It’s very important to public employees that their cadillac health care plans continue to be paid for by the state, cities and towns. At least in Boston where I live, that is where every dollar increase in the school budget has gone for the past 20 years.

    If you really believed in the centrality of paying for government in Massachusetts residents’ lives, then they should be happy to keep paying high taxes and electing Democrats to do it. I just don’t see the justification for the federal government to subsidize it.

    Log in to Reply
    • Christopher says

      December 3, 2017 at 4:12 pm

      Public schools overall do very well here. I saw a map once where each state was labelled not with its own name, but the name of the country it is most comparable to in terms of education quality. I forget exactly which country MA got, but it and other New England states were Scandanavian countries IIRC, while other states, particularly the South, had third world names. Our rankings vis-à-vis other nations as a state are near the top unlike those of the US as a whole which are embarrassing for a country supposedly number one in everything.

      Log in to Reply
      • jconway says

        December 4, 2017 at 1:55 am

        The new nesting feature needs fixing, but it may look like Finland in Winchester but it’s Alabama in Roxbury and Mississippi in New Bedford and Lawrence. We are awesome on aggregate, but the disparities between inner cities and suburbs on education are a stark indictment of how racially and economically divided our state remains.

        Log in to Reply
      • tracynovick says

        December 4, 2017 at 11:31 am

        You can find that map here:
        https://education.good.is/articles/educational-state-map-international
        And, yes, we’re Norway.
        What is most concerning is the funding disparities that already exist among our districts (I’d disagree, otherwise, on the below) due to lack of reconsideration of the foundation budget.

        Log in to Reply
        • Charley on the MTA says

          December 4, 2017 at 12:25 pm

          Tracy, thanks for weighing in. I’d love a longer primer on foundation budget stuff here sometime, if you have the chance.

          Log in to Reply
          • tracynovick says

            December 4, 2017 at 12:40 pm

            Oh, sure! I could do that.
            For those looking for a quick “how does this tax bill hit K-12 schools” (and don’t mind my linking to my own blog), I just put up a post: https://who-cester.blogspot.com/2017/12/how-tax-bill-hurts-school-budgets.html

            Log in to Reply
        • nopolitician says

          December 4, 2017 at 4:06 pm

          There are at least two major problems with our current Foundation Budget system:

          1) The Foundation Budget, which is supposed to represent a base level of education funding, likely no longer represents that, as evidenced by the fact that so many communities that can afford to are spending far above the foundation (some communities spend 2x the Foundation). That leaves a raging question in a supposedly liberal state – how far forward should wealthy communities be able to move from poor communities in terms of educational quality and offerings?

          2) The Foundation Budget allocates additional funds to communities to mitigate the impacts of both poverty and ESL, but I don’t think there is any empirical evidence that has evaluated this additional money. If the goal is to spend enough money on each child to satisfy their educational needs, the additional funding is pretty clearly inadequate given the wide disparity in performance between rich and poor districts. The questions – perhaps unsolvable – are, “what is the minimum level a student should be educated to”, “how much does it take to educate a student with social handicaps to that level”, and “are we willing to make that financial commitment”?

          Log in to Reply
    • Charley on the MTA says

      December 3, 2017 at 9:20 pm

      We have the best public schools in America. Yes people should be absolutely overjoyed to pay for that kind of public resource. It attracts and keeps talented people from all over the world to contribute to our culture and economy, and provides good quality of life for those who graduate from our schools.

      I’m just kind of surprised that even needs to be said.

      And no, you shouldn’t be taxed twice on the same income. Also makes perfect sense. Bizarre to see “conservatives” argue otherwise — oh no, actually you should pay more in taxes.

      Log in to Reply
      • jconway says

        December 4, 2017 at 1:54 am

        Like I said in my own post, it never ceases to amaze me that there is no popular outrage against military contractors, medical companies, tax preparers or real estate interests who bilk the government billions more than the “greedy blacks and immigrants on welfare” or those “greedy unionized teachers”.

        I remember Fox had some segment attacking teachers who made 78,000 a year aka nearly a hundredth of what that one network paid to silence O’Reilly and Ailes victims. Let alone the billions and billions of dollars going down the drain to the likes of Davita, the Trumps, or Lockheed and Boeing.

        Log in to Reply
        • Charley on the MTA says

          December 4, 2017 at 7:20 am

          Keep saying it. Never stop.

          Log in to Reply
  2. jconway says

    December 5, 2017 at 9:05 pm

    I’m ok with taxing endowments and have long called to end their tax exempt status locally for this reason. Right now the universities hoard or invest in capital projects. They outsource too many teaching positions to adjuncts and have worked with the Trump Administrstion Labor Department to crush graduate student unionization efforts. A modest tax on endowment wouldn’t be a bad thing, nor would ending tax exemptions for property or donations.

    Log in to Reply
    • Christopher says

      December 5, 2017 at 10:39 pm

      I’m not saying absolutely not to your ideas, but the theory is that they as non-profits benefit the community in other ways.

      Log in to Reply
  3. Trickle up says

    December 6, 2017 at 11:33 am

    It would have been helpful if the Minority Leader and other Democrats had branded this an education tax before it came up for a vote.

    Not just Jeff Bryant and not after the fact.

    Log in to Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recommended Posts

  • Promises made, promises kept (2)
  • Why I’m Voting for Sonia (2)
  • Biden gets terrorist Al-Zawahiri (1)
  • Dems reach deal on IRA (1)
  • Great economic news today (1)

Recent User Posts

Site issue: Unable to reply to comments

August 10, 2022 By SomervilleTom 1 Comment

Why do PUKES oppose $35 insulin for diabetics with private insurance?

August 8, 2022 By fredrichlariccia 3 Comments

Promises made, promises kept

August 8, 2022 By fredrichlariccia Leave a Comment

Schedule F

August 7, 2022 By johntmay 4 Comments

Statement by President Biden on passage of the Inflation Reduction Act

August 7, 2022 By fredrichlariccia 1 Comment

IRA passes 51- 50!

August 7, 2022 By fredrichlariccia 3 Comments

Recent Comments

  • johntmay on Site issue: Unable to reply to commentsSeems to be okay now...
  • johntmay on Why do PUKES oppose $35 insulin for diabetics with private insurance?Well, that's sad. Sure, your argument is a slam dunk wit…
  • fredrichlariccia on Why do PUKES oppose $35 insulin for diabetics with private insurance?Sorry, I'm done. Time to move on. :)
  • johntmay on Why do PUKES oppose $35 insulin for diabetics with private insurance?A hip replacement in the USA runs about $40,000, $13,500…
  • SomervilleTom on Speaker Pelosi Leads On Democracy Yet AgainIn other words, sometimes the Speaker grandstands -- and…
  • SomervilleTom on Speaker Pelosi Leads On Democracy Yet AgainIt appears that you in fact have none of the answers. It…
  • Christopher on Speaker Pelosi Leads On Democracy Yet AgainSometimes the Speaker leads Congressional delegations -…

Archive

@bluemassgroup on Twitter

#mapoli

qpalfrey Quentin Palfrey @qpalfrey ·
43m

Great to be among friends this evening at the @ProWRoxRoz potluck! Thank you for having me! #mapoli

2

Reply on Twitter 1557513686159396864 Retweet on Twitter 1557513686159396864 Like on Twitter 1557513686159396864 Twitter 1557513686159396864
headlineoptics Headline Optics @headlineoptics ·
43m

Violent Fugitive Wanted for Attempted Murder Arrested in Auburn https://www.masspolicyreport.com/2022/08/10/violent-fugitive-wanted-for-attempted-murder-arrested-in-auburn/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter @masspolicy #MApoli #Massachusetts

Reply on Twitter 1557513643805159424 Retweet on Twitter 1557513643805159424 Like on Twitter 1557513643805159424 Twitter 1557513643805159424
dsoq Deb Soc - Use ALL the tools to #StopTheSpread! @dsoq ·
44m

In Mass., COVID "case rates were significantly higher in students + staff in school districts that removed masking requirements, compared to districts that..." still said #MaskUp.
Masks work!
#mapoli @MAPublicHealth @ProgressiveMass @TogetherWeMask @PublicHealth @mandatemasksus

OHA Context & Commentary @OHAinContext

Impact of Lifting School Masking Requirements on Incidence of COVID-19 among Staff and Students in Greater-Boston Area School Districts: A Difference-in-Differences Analysis

Masks work.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.08.09.22278385v1

Reply on Twitter 1557513472342122496 Retweet on Twitter 1557513472342122496 1 Like on Twitter 1557513472342122496 1 Twitter 1557513472342122496
rwwatchma Trump's election fraud hoax undermines democracy @rwwatchma ·
44m

Trump Signed Law That Could Get Him 5 Years In Prison For Mishandling Classified Docs https://www.politicususa.com/2022/08/10/trump-signed-law-on-classified-docs.html #mapoli #nhpolitics

Reply on Twitter 1557513362371756032 Retweet on Twitter 1557513362371756032 Like on Twitter 1557513362371756032 Twitter 1557513362371756032
tomsullboston1 Thomas Sullivan @tomsullboston1 ·
47m

#bospoli #mapoli

Reuters @Reuters

U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law the PACT Act of 2022 saying as a nation 'we have one truly sacred obligation, to equip those we send into harms way and to care for them and their families when they come home'

Reply on Twitter 1557512749319688193 Retweet on Twitter 1557512749319688193 Like on Twitter 1557512749319688193 Twitter 1557512749319688193
andrewqmr Andrew Quemere @andrewqmr ·
58m

Woah, @Tanisha4MA just closed out the @SecretaryOfMass debate by saying she would refuse to put Trump's name on the 2024 ballot and force him to take her to court.

@BillGalvin4MA said he would only do so if Trump was convicted of insurrection.

#mapoli

Reply on Twitter 1557509818138730497 Retweet on Twitter 1557509818138730497 1 Like on Twitter 1557509818138730497 7 Twitter 1557509818138730497
Load More

From our sponsors




Google Calendar







Search

Archives

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter




Copyright © 2022 Owned and operated by BMG Media Empire LLC. Read the terms of use. Some rights reserved.