Stop the House Tax Reform Bill: It Takes Tax Breaks from Teachers and Gives Them to the Wealthy for Private Schools
When my husband and I were teachers, we would save the receipts for all of the items we bought for our classrooms–holiday treats for our students; the notebooks for those too poor to afford them; the colored chalk that our students loved. Although the small tax credit we received never covered our cost, it helped.
Now the proposed House tax “reform” bill would strip out that tax credit for teachers, and use it to give the wealthy a huge tax advantage to pay for private school. It is outrageous.
Write and stop the House tax reform bill today. Send your letter here.
This bill would give a tax advantage to people like Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos who already send their children to private schools. It would allow parents to use 529 savings plans for up to $10,000 a year for private school expenses. These plans have tax-free interest, even when the money is withdrawn, and are tax deductible in the majority of our states. It removes the income requirement so that the very wealthy can use it. It would further the DeVos privatization agenda. She calls it a “good first step.”
And the attack on public schools does not end there.
The House bill also strips the deductions for state taxes and caps the deduction for local taxes. Our state and local taxes support our public schools. When taxpayers lose that deduction, there will be increased pressure on our local school boards and the state to further defund public education.
According to Ed Week, a 2011 report by the Center on Education Policy estimated that the loss of state and local tax deductions overall would deprive public schools of $17 billion, based on 2009 data.
Write and stop the House tax “reform” bill today. Send your letter here.
In the coming days, we will continue our campaign to fight this DeVos/Trump supported House bill. Today is the first step. But we need your help and your commitment to Action.
1. Send your email today.
2. Post the link to this newsletter on social media.
3. Read and act on our upcoming alerts.
The stakes are too high for our democracy to ignore this deliberate attempt to destroy public education.
Thank you for all you do,
