Teacher Tax Relief Act of 2011: An Argument For HR 1738

Representative Dave Reichert (R-WA8) has recently sponsored an education bill (House Resolution 1738) that should be quickly passed with bi-partisan support- the Teacher Tax Relief Act of 2011. This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase deductions that teachers can make for certain elementary and secondary school teachers from $250 to $500, extend indefinitely this currently year-by-year deduction, and expand it to include professional development activities.

Republicans and Democrats talk often about 'helping teachers'- but the money that goes into the Department of Education gets trapped in Washington or by bureaucrats at the state levels and much of the 'help' never actually gets to the actual teachers. A better approach by Washington to 'helping teachers' would be to cut the size and budget of the Department of Education and to take half of those savings and transfer it to teachers in the form of tax deductions.

These tax deductions would reward those teachers who already spend money in their classroom- after all, teachers already spend out-of-pocket considerably more than $250 (sources- the NEA's 2003 report, Status of the American Public School Teacher, 2000-2001, found that teachers spent an average of $443 a year on classroom supplies, and The National School Supply and Equipment Association found that in 2005-2006, educators spent out of their own pockets an average of $826 for supplies and an additional $926 for instructional materials -- for a total of $1,752). By allowing more to be deducted, this may perhaps encourage more teachers to buy more supplied for their classrooms, especially if those teachers are not well-off or working in districts that can not afford to pay them a lot. And by expanding the tax credit, it may encourage teachers to seek out more professional development opportunities, knowing that these will be deducted from their tax bill.

The federal government allows small-business owners to deduct expenses, those who work for other companies to deduct expenses, and bureaucrats deduct costs all the time from their taxes, and so expanding the already existing teacher tax deduction would be in line with what is acceptable in other policy areas.

Some of you may be thinking- why should only teachers get this sort of tax break? You may be right and perhaps taxes should be cut for you too, but just because you want something too should not mean that you oppose tax cuts to teachers (unless you're just a small and spiteful person and can't stand to see anyone else get better if you're not too). You want tax cuts, this bill is tax cuts- don't be petty and jealous and oppose it just because those tax cuts don't go to you. I suppose you could oppose this bill because you want to see the government collect more from teachers in taxes, but that's got to be a small minority- not even liberal Democrats really could have as their objective to just take more out of teachers pockets. Or perhaps you're worried that this sort of thing will add to our deficit- if that's the case, just make in kind cuts from the Department of Education budget based on how much you think this sort of thing will cost, or even 2-for-1 cuts- HR 1738 will be better for real teachers in the end.

The federal government can play a role in improving education by encouraging teachers to spend more of their own money in their classroom and improve their skills through professional development, and HR 1738 does this.

Please contact your Congressperson and encourage them to co-sponsor this legislation and work to push it through the House Committee on Ways and Means, where it is currently stuck.

Currently cosponsored by Shelley Berkley [D-NV1], Doc Hastings [R-WA4], and Aaron Schock [R-IL18]- please thank these Congresspeople for cosponsoring this legislation.