Teachers lose tax breaks 4 class expence

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Registered: 03-18-2000
Teachers lose tax breaks 4 class expence
11
Fri, 09-17-2004 - 3:33pm
Teachers lose tax breaks for class expenses.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/09/16/school.supplies.ap/index.html


If Doreen Seelig pocketed all the money she has spent on classroom supplies over 35 years as a teacher -- the printer cartridges, the paper, the pencils and the paperback books lent to her Venice High School students -- she figures she would have a new car by now.


Now, as the new school year gets under way, the burden on Seelig and other teachers around the country is even heavier.


Because of a budget crunch, California has suspended a tax credit that reimbursed teachers up to $1,500 for classroom supplies. Meanwhile, a $250 federal tax deduction for teachers that helped defray out-of-pocket spending expired this year.


Seelig said she will still buy hundreds of dollars worth of basic materials that districts do not provide. And she will still drive her 1991 Acura.


"What are we going to do, tell the kids, 'Sorry, there's no paper today,' or tell them they can't print because there's no ink?" Seelig asked. "I know I couldn't do it."


Teachers around the country often reach into their own pockets to buy school supplies for themselves or their students, either because the school system does not provide the money, or because they feel sorry for youngsters from poor homes who come to school without the things they need.


Parent-teacher organizations and private groups often donate supplies, but educators say poor districts still come up short.


For young teachers at the lowest end of the pay scale, the loss of the tax credits is particularly hard.


"The end of the tax benefits is effectively a tax increase for teachers -- people who spend thousands of their own dollars each day for their classrooms and who don't deserve a tax increase," said Barbara Kerr, president of the California Teachers Association.


'It's the kids who end up suffering the most'

Nationwide, teachers spent an average of $458 on school supplies, according to the National School Supply and Equipment Association, a Maryland-based trade group.


The National Education Association and some lawmakers are working to reinstate the federal teacher deduction, which was introduced in 2002 but expired at the end of 2003. Teachers are still entitled to write off business expenses, like other taxpayers, but the amount they spend often does not meet the threshold for taking a deduction.


By ditching its tax break, California joined most of the rest of the nation. National teacher organizations do not keep track, but it appears few states now offer teachers any relief at all.


Arkansas, for example, requires that school districts reimburse teachers for up to $500 of out-of-pocket expenses. Texas officials have allocated $3 million to compensate public school teachers. Between that and local government funding, Texas teachers might reach $400 worth of reimbursements this school year.


Even when tax breaks are proposed, as in Arizona last year, the teachers' lobby may be opposed, saying the solution is more state money for education.


Karl Kaku, an English teacher at Fresno High School for 10 years, said he spent $200 on supplies before this year's classes had even started.


"Stuff to write with, stuff to write on, pens, paper, overhead transparencies, overhead markers, ink cartridges," said Kaku, who makes $56,000 a year. "Some years, there's some money. Others, there's nothing. This year there's nothing."


In the Canoga Park section of Los Angeles, teacher and expectant mother Jennifer Flores said she has already rationed her spending. "We'll do without some of the things I would usually buy," she said. "And the worst thing about it all is that it's the kids who end up suffering the most."


The California credit was first offered in 2000 as a way to keep teachers from quitting. Teachers with four to 11 years in the profession received $250 to $500. Those more experienced could receive up to $1,500.


The credit was suspended in 2002 as state legislators battled a budget gap. It was resurrected for the 2003-04 tax year, at a cost of $180 million to the state. Last month, legislators suspended the relief until 2007. Parent and teacher groups, as well as private companies, are scrambling to cushion the blow.


The Los Angeles teachers union recently teamed up with a Spanish-language radio station in asking donors for such things as glue sticks, pencils, crayons, manila folders, even socks and underwear for poorer districts.


One Web site, iLoveSchools.com, matches teachers around the country with donors. The nonprofit organization, launched in July, said it has received about $90,000 in donations.

cl-Libraone~

 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-06-2004
Fri, 09-17-2004 - 4:44pm
It's terrible. My dh and I are on the Boosters committee this year for our daughter's grade school, and some of the money we raise (thru numerous fundraisers throughout the year) will be used to reimburse teachers for what they spend out of their own pockets for supplies.....(We're in California)
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Fri, 09-17-2004 - 5:14pm
I know how much many of the teachers around here have put in...and that's why we would always buy extras of anything I could find a good deal on and donate it to the school.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-05-2003
Fri, 09-17-2004 - 5:19pm
That's too bad about teachers losing that tax break. I can see where teachers use a good deal of their own money. I was only a volunteer at our local school, and I spent my own money many times. That was the only was it was going to get done, but I know I never spent as much as a teacher would.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-06-2004
Sat, 09-18-2004 - 12:14am
We do that too! Last year, when my oldest was in kindergarten, their little classroom library was SO pathetic. So every time we ordered books from those Scholastic book orders (remember those?) I'd order a few extra to give to the class. The first time we did that, the teacher was so overwhelmed she HUGGED me, and I thought she might cry, so I knew it had been SO worth it! When the class started doing homework, she sent EACH child home with a little plastic box of "homework supplies" (pencils, crayons, glue, scissors, erasers, etc) and each one had a personalized name label on it. Now I just KNOW that stuff like that comes out of their own pockets! The school couldn't afford a snack for the kindy kids either, so dh and I would donate juice boxes & stuff when we could. We're not rich by any means, but just little stuff like that makes SUCH a difference!!
Avatar for baileyhouse
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Sat, 09-18-2004 - 8:50am
I'm a little curious...After reading all of these posts I'm a little confused. Our kids who attend public school are given a list at the end of the year that tells us what supplies we will need to buy our children for the next year. Our schools don't supply anything except subject books. We even buy kleenex. This has been going on since my kids started school. Don't ALL public schools do this? I went to Catholic school so it was a given that we bring our own supplies. Did public schools ever supply pencils, glue, paper etc, for their students. My DH says not when he was a kid. His parents had to buy it all even then. The only thing the school supplied was the lined paper for penminship(sp). sorry if this seems like a stupid question.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-06-2004
Sat, 09-18-2004 - 11:41am
Just speaking for our own public school here in CA, my OLDEST is only in first grade, so our grade school experience is not that extensive yet! But for kindergarten and first grade, I expected to receive a list of supplies that WE would need to send to school with our daughter. But it didn't happen......maybe only for the higher grades? I asked our first grade teacher this year, and she said we didn't need to send anything....so it is kind of confusing. At each child's desk, they have a little cup with a pencil, eraser, glue stick, scissors & 8 crayons. I actually don't know for sure if this teacher provided them or the school. Maybe the school does, since 1st graders don't NEED that much stuff yet? I guess we'll find out as we get to the higher grades!
Avatar for baileyhouse
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Sat, 09-18-2004 - 12:11pm
I can remember having to find the "fat" pencils for my DS when he was in kindergarden, not an easy task. Having been raised in private school I was quite shocked when my step kids started school in the public system and I had the rude awakening that my tax dollars were not going to school supplies....How naive I was to the real world.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Sat, 09-18-2004 - 12:34pm

So every time we ordered books from those Scholastic book orders (remember those?) I'd order a few extra to give to the class.


Ah yes, Scholastic books...we still have a lot of them!!


iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Sat, 09-18-2004 - 12:52pm

Maybe the school does, since 1st graders don't NEED that much stuff yet? I guess we'll find out as we get to the higher grades!


We didn't have a supply list until 4th grade.


iVillage Member
Registered: 09-06-2004
Sat, 09-18-2004 - 2:50pm
The budget also slashed our music and library programs, so the school has no music classes or band anymore. Doesn't affect us personally (non-musical folks here!), but the kids who played are pretty sad about it. We still have our library, it's fairly decent for a mid-town elementary school, but the staffing has been cut to the bone. Luckily, a few of our county librarians have stepped in to volunteer a few times a week....

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