Stan Geiger

Yet Another Gift for School Teachers in the Works

Mike McCarville reports a bill to give school teachers a $500 tax credit has passed a House committee and is advancing.

According to McCarville:

The tax credit would cover the cost of materials, equipment,or supplies used in a classroom of a public school if the cost was "not refunded or reimbursed from any other source."

KOTV reported the other night that the governor says teacher pay raises are off the table for this year. Obviously he's not being totally honest. A tax credit is a pay raise, though one that enters through the back door.

Legislators are saying tax cuts are off the table for this year. They aren't being honest, either. They are working to provide a significant income tax cut---for school teachers and school teachers only.

Understand, we're not talking about a tax deduction; we're talking tax credit. A credit is deducted from the tax one owes after all the calculating is done. This bill proposes to virtually eliminate the state income tax for school teachers.

The state is facing a $114 million funding shortfall. That according to the most recent figures. Things could easily worsen in coming months. Yet politicians still feel compelled to put a package under the tree for school teachers.

Ironically, lawmakers are looking to get rid of a lot of tax credits, claiming they have outlived their usefulness. Their stated purpose is to increase tax revenue in order to make way for reductions in the income tax rate. Yet here they are looking to install a new credit for school teachers. There are over 40,000 school teachers in Oklahoma. If they all take the credit---which one assumes is a given---it's a $20 million income tax cut.

So what are the politicians really up to? Well, it appears they want to get rid of tax credits for some people so teachers can have the money.

The political-educational complex at work.

The rationale behind the bill has to do with teachers digging into their own pockets---to the tune of hundreds of dollars a year---to supply classrooms. In order to buy into such a notion, one first has to believe teachers would actually be willing to do that. And second, one has to believe that with billions and billions in state and property tax money flowing through public schools every year, there isn't funding enough for supplying classrooms.

Ergo, I don't buy into the claim that teachers supply classrooms with their own money. And I won't buy into it until I see some proof.

But even if one accepts that teachers spend their own money on supplying classrooms and shouldn't have to, this bill, if passed, would be wide, wide open to fraud.

In a plain reading, McCarville says any "materials, equipment, or supplies used in a classroom of a public school" qualify for the credit. (Emphasis added). That covers a lot of ground.

Let's say I'm a school teacher and I buy myself a digital camera. I take the camera on my vacation to Washington, D.C. and take pictures of the monuments. I bring the pictures to school with me to show my students. Ba-da-bing, my digital camera just became a piece of equipment used in a classroom. And the state buys it for me.

I could go out and buy a copy of Barack Obama's book, run 20 copies of a page and hand the copies out to my class. The book comes under the heading of material used in a classroom. And the state buys it for me.

I could buy myself a nice gold pen and pencil set. Hey, I grade papers with those instruments. They are supplies used in a classroom. And the state buys the set for me.

For that matter, I wouldn't have to buy anything at all and I could still take the credit. I mean it's a simple matter of filling out a line on my return. Who's going to know? Does the state plan to audit the tax returns of over 40,000 school teachers every year? I don't think so.

If I claimed the credit, couldn't prove I was entitled to it and got caught, no biggie. I turn to the old students' excuse. The dog ate my receipts. I reimburse the state and go on with my business. But I would consider taking the credit worth the risk every year. Dude, we're talking 500 bucks. Over 10 years, we're talking 5 large.

One would think a bill like this would be authored by one of those "liberal Democrats." It's not. It's a Republican bill. And it's a bad bill that should not be passed into law.

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