Unjust, Unwise Tax on Private School Parents
Opinion
Rendered on the Mega-Sales Tax Proposals
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Consider contacting your representative. A sample letter is attached
that can be emailed, mailed or faxed. Look up contact
information here.
Among
the services taxed under the mega-sales tax proposal (SJR 29 and HJR
56) that are being considered by the Missouri General
Assembly are educational services provided by K-12 private and
parochial schools. College tuition is explicitly exempted from the
sales tax and no K-12 school tax is imposed on public school parents.
College tuition is exempted from the mega-sales tax because it is
considered an "investment" in the education of Missouri
citizens. Isn't K-12 school tuition an investment? In fact, the
mega-sales tax discriminates against private school parents.
The tax rate
proposed is 5.11 percent but even proponents concede the rate will
probably have to be adjusted upwards. If one assumes a tax rate of 8
percent and school tuition of $3,000, then a parent would pay a sales
tax of $240.
Some argue that taxing K-12 private school tuition is perfectly
acceptable because parents do not have to send their children to
private schools. "It's their choice," goes the argument. But
for a parent whose child is trapped in a failing public school, the
private school option may be the only way their child receives an
adequate education.
Even parents of some financial means may want their children to
receive a religious or values-based education that is simply not
available in the public schools. The point is purchasing education is
not "discretionary" spending like buying a movie
ticket or magazine.
By singling
out private school parents for taxing while exempting all other
school parents, the mega-sales tax penalizes parents who choose
private or parochial schools. One can argue the sales tax rate is too
small to represent a significant penalty; however, once the principle
of taxing these parents is conceded there is no reason why the tax
cannot be increased later. At some level, such a tax begins to
coerce parents to choose public schools.
The next logical step would be to require all parents to send their
children to public schools. Fortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court has
ruled state laws to this effect to be unconstitutional.
Proponents of
the mega-sales tax argue that private school parents will be better
off because they will no longer pay income taxes. This argument
is flawed in several respects. First, poor parents who send their
children to private schools will not benefit from repeal of the
income tax - they do not pay income tax - but they will pay the sales
tax on their children's school tuition.
Second,
the mega-sales tax asks private school parents to accept an injustice
- being taxed while other school parents are not - for the promise of
some future economic benefit that may, or may not, be realized. If it
is appropriate to tax schools parents, then why not tax all school
parents? Why single out only K-12 private and parochial school
parents?
SJR 29 and HJR 56 propose to constitutionally discriminate against
private school parents. It is not just about the money lost or
gained; a principle is at stake here. Singling out private
school parents only for taxing is simply wrong.
In addition
to being unjust, the mega-sales tax makes no economic or educational
sense. Adding a tax may cause some parents to reach a
"tipping point" where private schools are no longer a
realistic option. Yet the $400 or $500 the state collects by taxing
private school parents will be lost many times over if these parents
transfer their children to public schools. In 2008, it cost on
average $9,338 to educate a child in the state's public schools.
The state of Missouri
should promote schools that successfully educate children, not tax
them. The annual dropout rate for 2009 for public high schools in the
city of St. Louis
was 27.5 percent.
The mega-sales tax ignores these facts and taxes parents who choose
private schools. It discriminates against private school parents and
undermines the effort of successful private schools to offer
educational opportunity to Missouri
children, especially lower-income children trapped in failing public
schools. For these reasons alone, the mega-sales tax should be
defeated.
Tell your Senator and State Representative that you
oppose the Mega Sales
Tax. Points to consider making:
Why tax private school parents, but not other
school parents?
Is Missouri
going to make discrimination of private school parents part of its
Constitution?
Are you trying to discourage parents from choosing
private Christian schools or other schools of choice?
Are you trying to make it more difficult for poor
parents to escape failing public schools and attend successful
private schools?
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