Tax home schooling parents less?

Discussion in 'Education' started by Anders Hoveland, Nov 26, 2011.

  1. Anders Hoveland

    Anders Hoveland Banned

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    People are taxed supposedly to pay for the public education of any future children they may have in the future, or have already had.

    But what about when the parents decide to homeschool their children? Is it fair to tax them for public schooling that their children did not receive?

    I think that parents who home school their children should have their taxes decreased. It would also make it easier for one parent to work less to spend the time necessary to educate the children.

    With schools more and more turning into political indoctrination institutions, parents should also have the right to withhold their financial support if they do not want their children to be exposed to public education.
     
  2. dudeman

    dudeman New Member

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    the discrimination argument will be raised. Why should I, a single person, pay 80% of my local taxes at all (given that 80+% are school related)? How about parents of kids over the age of 18, senior citizens? Agree with the concept, however, the reduction in tax rate should NOT stop at parents that elect to avoid public education.
     
  3. perdidochas

    perdidochas Well-Known Member

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    If you do that, to be fair, you would also need to tax those who private school their children less for the same reason.
     
  4. HonestJoe

    HonestJoe Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    No they're not. People are taxed to pay for contemporary public services (including public education). Taxes are generally based on income and/or wealth, not use of those services.

    The fairness depends on the actual principal of the tax system (whether you agree with it or not). If you deem this unfair though, you're opening a whole can of worms over pretty much every other public service available.
     
  5. freedom11

    freedom11 New Member

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    I say yes. It will encourage homeschooling which is good.
     
  6. TheHat

    TheHat Well-Known Member

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    Makes sense to me. We homeschool.

    Our state passed a law saying that a kid who is homeschooled can play sports at the public school in which he resides. The fine print of that law says it is solely up to the principal of that school to make that determination. So there is your wrinkle to the law.

    I pay taxes to this school, but even though some of my tax dollars goes to this institution they can deny my kid playing sports there, BUT another law states that if your a minority and you go to a minority-majority population school, you can transfer to a school where minorities are the minority population.

    Figure that mind freak out.....lol.

    Government will never allow homeschoolers to not pay this tax. If they did, most schools would be gone in a matter of years.
     
  7. DarkDaimon

    DarkDaimon Well-Known Member

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    Well I don't drive a car on public roads so I should pay less tax. Oh, and I've never had a fire or needed the police so I should pay less tax. I don't use welfare so I should pay less tax. I have my own lawyer so I don't need a public defender and I have my own retirement fund so I don't need social security. I should pay less tax. I have my own guns so I don't need the army to defend me. When I think about it I don't use any government services to I shouldn't be taxed at all.

    Yes, this is over the top, but I hope it enlightens. When a service is not used, the money that would have gone to it goes to something else instead. If everyone home schooled their children and the schools were shut down, the tax money that would have gone to the schools would just go somewhere else. You see, when you pay taxes, you don't get to decide where that money goes. That's why we elect our representatives, so they can do that for us.
     
  8. HonestJoe

    HonestJoe Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    It's not really that simple. Homeschooling can only be good if the parents have the time, resources, ability and commitment to make it work. Encouraging homeschooling on a purely financial basis has the potential to be very damaging.

    I very much doubt it. There is a relatively small proportion of children homeschooled so the overall loss of money wouldn't be huge and it would likely be balanced with increases to other taxes anyway.
     
  9. PatrickT

    PatrickT Well-Known Member

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    I don't think they should be exempt from school taxes but I do think they should be allowed to write off all homeschooling expenses on their state and federal income tax.

    Since I wanted my children to not only read well but to enjoy reading I had significant expenses buying books for the kids. I also paid to hire a tutor when my son was struggling with algebra. I also bought a videotape of a miniseries on the Holocaust to start a discussion with my kids after their union teacher told them the Holocaust never happened.
     
  10. freedom11

    freedom11 New Member

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    I doubt the average person without the financial means would home school.
     
  11. HonestJoe

    HonestJoe Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Yes, but with a significant tax cut on offer, the average person might try (and fail). The less than average person might just take the money but not bother actually teaching their kids anything.

    My point is that while homeschooling can be a positive choice for some people, I don't believe it would be for most and I think it would be counter productive to use a tax cut to encourage it in general.
     
  12. Clint Torres

    Clint Torres New Member

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    To the OP:

    In the USA eveyone pays over 65% of their property taxes for the public schools and their public unions. We have no choice even if we don't have kids. It is fair to say that if I don't have a kid going to school, I should not be taxed for public schools.

    In the USA it cost more for your kid to mingle with the wealthy and elite kids. If you can't afford it, there is alwasy the public school.
     
  13. freedom11

    freedom11 New Member

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    Well maybe offer some type of supervision thing where the kid gets some type of public test.
     
  14. Clint Torres

    Clint Torres New Member

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    That may be the case, but for the cost of public schools, it is not worth the money taxpayers are forced to pay. They should cut funding and make the educators do some real work, and perhaps the kids will learn by example.

    K-12 is just major baby sitting with only the need for basic math and language skills. Other countries are doing grat things with education, for less than 1/2 the cost. and they are getting superior results. America needs to get offf the school system of the 1800s and move into the 22nd century.

    But regardless of public school failure, the cost of public schools alarm me. Money for nothing, get your chimps for free.
     
  15. Anders Hoveland

    Anders Hoveland Banned

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    Quite a reversal. Usually it is just the other way around. :mrgreen:
     
  16. PatrickT

    PatrickT Well-Known Member

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    Home schooling is not an either or issue. If you send your kids to public school, or even private school, you have to help them fight the nonsense.

    And, we all need to remember that public schools exist to employee teachers and not to educate children.
     
  17. Clint Torres

    Clint Torres New Member

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    That is true. If it were not for the public education welfare system in the USA, the USA would not be broke.

    When you look at the reality of youth education, it costs zero dollars to teach them the stuff they need to learn the basics.

    We the tax payers regarless if we have kids going to public schools pay tax so that a small segment of the population can live in comfort and safety. And that in itself is welfare when you look at the actual work hours they do.

    This is in regards to USA public schools not school systems around the world. They actully do work harder and have standards and accountability.
     
  18. Wolverine

    Wolverine New Member Past Donor

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    I don't think home schooling should be encouraged.... if people want to educate their kids, great. They should be required to enroll their children in at least a few public school classes, and shouldn't pay less taxes.
     
  19. Clint Torres

    Clint Torres New Member

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    I agree if it is in australia or canada.
     
  20. Wolverine

    Wolverine New Member Past Donor

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    Hmmmmmm.... I am referring to the US.
     
  21. Clint Torres

    Clint Torres New Member

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    In most legit online home schooling proctors are assigned at public libraries.

    But I agree, they should all pay taxes, but to pay the massive amounts to failing public schools systems needs to stop untill they get it right.
     
  22. Anders Hoveland

    Anders Hoveland Banned

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    There should at least be a small tax reduction, not enough to be a serious incentive, but some small ammount to lighten the financial burden just a little bit for a parent that has already made the decission to forfeit working to stay home and homeschool their child.
     
  23. Think for myself

    Think for myself Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Agreed, surprisingly.

    And I, as a guy who has no children and will never have any children, should not have to pay for breeders' offspring's education.

    You want to have kids? Pay for them yourself.
     
  24. PoliticalRuckus

    PoliticalRuckus New Member

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    Uneducated juveniles are one of the reasons for increased crime. Paying for everything yourself is a self-centered viewpoint. Education of children concerns everyone -- not just parents.
     
  25. septimine

    septimine New Member

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    Based on what I know of public "schools" -- which are in truth little more than compulsory babysitting services while mom and dad go to work. Our education system produces a 3rd grade education over 12 years. I don't think a parent could do much worse than our public "schools". At least a parent would make sure their 12th grader could read.

    Well, I think by removing the double cost, a lot more parents would opt out of our education system for actual education. I don't think any parent who knew what kinds of things were going on in their public schools would subject their children to them any longer. The fact is, if you're American and you want your kid to be educated you either do it yourself or find a way to scrape up the money to send your kids to private school. Public schools are pretty much child neglect at this point.
     

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