The Cost of a Free Education

    Maryland public schools are facing a shortage.  Some schools are suffering from overcrowding, and so the solution is to temporarily build trailers, then new buildings following bond issues and voters’ acquiescence.
Some schools are dilapidated, and so the solution is to refurbish the interiors and exteriors.  Some schools are stocked with out-of-date or older textbooks, and a lack of usable teaching materials, and so the solution is to buy new things. 
    The problems among the schools vary, but the solution is the same.
    More money is needed to adequately fund teaching children within the public school system. 
    The source of the money is what it has traditionally been – taxpayers, and specifically property taxes.  To curb the problems, the State must either tax property more heavily or it must reallocate the taxes it receives.  Either taxes will rise or publicly-funded services will receive less than they do now.
    What about another solution?  What if those families who use the public schools were taxed individually based not upon property assessments but upon their salaries? Those who made a taxable income and sent their children to their local schools could be taxed or assessed a yearly fee to offset the cost of educating their child. The benefit is that other tax-supported services and institutions would not have to suffer because of overcrowded or ill-equipped schools and the schools that need additional monies would receive them. 
    We all value education and would agree that access is necessary, but public education does not necessary mean free education.  For those families who can pay, they should.  For those families who cannot, they should not have to.  For those families who do not use the education system, they should not have to pay more taxes or suffer the loss of tax-dependent services.

Topics: Taxes , Public Education , Solutions