Tax Freedom for Teachers?

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Last week Gov. Gray Davis proposed a novel reward for California public school teachers: exempting them from state income tax. He says it would show that California places a high value on educators, but lawmakers call the proposal everything from special interest politics to unsound tax policy, and even the teachers’ union came out against it. So the Business Journal asks:

Should public school teachers receive a state income tax exemption?

Antonia Hernandez

President

Mexican American

Legal Defense and

Education Fund

We don’t believe that’s the best approach. They deserve a raise, and we should be very direct about it. If you look at the exemption, the economic benefit is not that great. And then there’s the equity issue about other state employees. What about policemen? What about firemen? If there is money in the general fund, the Legislature and the governor should approve legislation that sends more money straight to schools and to teachers.

Cheryl Rhoden

Assistant Executive Director

Writers Guild of America

I applaud the governor for trying some creative thinking to address what should be a concern for every citizen. Clearly our teachers need higher wages and we need more resources for students. But I think it’s difficult for legislators to say that teachers are more important than firefighters, policemen or social workers. It’s problematic. How do you make that judgment? All those public employees deserve more.

Keith Kaplan

Director of Strategic Planning

HomePage.com

I think that eliminating or reducing income tax for teachers is a valiant and noble effort. They’re among the most undervalued, underpaid group of professionals out there. And it’s well established that our education system is falling behind, so we’ve got to do something. But it’s hard to reward one group providing a public service over another. Maybe we could do something else to reward them if a raise isn’t possible, like provide them with a really good benefits package.

Ron Porat

Owner

Security Couriers

Our educational system needs work I’m certainly not happy with the teacher that my kid has now. But they need to pay teachers more, not exempt them from paying taxes. I think everybody should be equal. Either no one is exempt or everyone is, like in Nevada. Otherwise everyone will want to be exempt too. It could cause a lot of problems.

Marla A. Smith

Associate

Arter & Hadden

I would probably be against that. It seems like that proposal is just diluting the income tax the state receives in order to give teachers a break that other state workers don’t get. And it’s not that big of a break, although on what they make I guess every bit helps. I would just rather give teachers a raise.

Michael K. Brown

Senior Partner

Crosby, Heafey,

Roach & May

It sounds like a creative idea to keep the quality of teachers high. If a straight raise is not feasible, then this may be a workable solution. While others may seek similar exemptions, I’m going to make the value judgment that the education of our children is more important than some other callings. Without knowing what the overall fiscal impact may be on the state, I think that this is an interesting form of compensation.

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