Posted on 09/24/2018 7:16:52 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
This week the House of Representatives will vote on a package of bills making the temporary tax cuts contained in last year’s tax reform bill permanent and making additional tax law changes. The bills will likely pass in the House, but will almost certainly be filibustered in the Senate if the Senate leadership tries to bring them to the floor.
The GOP tax plan does offset some of the damage caused by federal control of education by making it easier for parents to escape failing government schools or “edexit.” It accomplishes this by allowing money saved in a tax-free 529 education savings account to be used for homeschooling expenses.
This provision will help homeschooling families and inspire more families to consider homeschooling. Homeschooling parents must not only pay for all their children’s education expenses, they also must subsidize government schools via property taxes and other taxes. A commitment to homeschooling may also require a parent to limit or even forgo outside employment.
Despite the financial costs, more families are choosing to homeschool. This is due to increasing dissatisfaction with government schools, greater public acceptance of homeschooling, and the availability of quality online homeschooling curricula, such as my Ron Paul Curriculum.
My curriculum provides students with a well-rounded education including rigorous programs in history, mathematics, and the physical and natural sciences. The curriculum also provides instruction in personal finance. Students can develop superior oral and verbal communication skills via intensive writing and public speaking courses. Students also get the opportunity to create and run their own internet businesses.
The government and history sections emphasize Austrian economics, libertarian political theory, and the history of liberty. However, unlike government schools, my curriculum never puts ideological indoctrination ahead of education.
Unlike government schools, and even many private schools, my curriculum addresses the crucial role religion played in the development of Western civilization. However, the materials are drafted in such a way that parents of any or no religious belief can feel comfortable using the curriculum.
Interactive forums allow students to engage with and learn from each other. The forums ensure students are actively engaged in their education as well as give them an opportunity to interact with their peers outside of a formal setting.
The latest Republican tax plan has laudable features, such as allowing the use of tax-free education savings accounts for homeschooling. However, as long as Congress refuses to offset tax cuts with spending cuts, the benefits of tax cuts will be limited and short-lived. Therefore, while all lovers of liberty should support any and all tax cuts, we must work to pressure Congress to cut spending. Bringing the troops home and shutting down the Department of Education are two good places to start.
Parents interested in my homeschooling curriculum can find out more about it at ronpaulcurriculum.com.
We need Separation of School and State.
When my local district spends 18K per student and they are still too stupid to find Canada on a map, handing out vouchers at 5 grand each would be a huge money saver
Get rid of public education.
Take it apart brick by brick
I HATE these “government savings accounts” Why spend it to the government at all? why set up a bureaucracy to hold the money and millions of idiotic rules you have to follow to get your money back?
Just make education expenses tax deductible, AND allow you to OPT OUT of local state school taxes if you send and pay for your kid to go to private school.
“.. AND allow you to OPT OUT of local state school taxes if you send and pay for your kid to go to private school.”
That is the part they refuse, because they want all that money to educate all the kids of parent(s) who pay NOTHING at all.
Yes please, use vouchers to help folks select the better schools. And help the weak schools improve. Win Win.
Because then its not your money anymore and comes with federal strings attached. Thats the real reason some push vouchers, they know that there is too much momentum both in will and technology away from the present model but they need to retain authority to indoctrinate.
Everyone who pays rent also pays local property ("school") tax as part of the landlord's expenses.
Also, the money is to pay the government employees who run the storage facilities for the children. Any education they get is largely coincidental to the main goal of employing people who can be counted upon to vote for higher taxes and more government control.
Amen
“Everyone who pays rent also pays local property (”school”) tax as part of the landlord’s expenses.”
I was talking about those that pay nothing, those that live off welfare and leech off the productive. There are whole towns of them that state taxpayers have to support.
In that case, the government assistance partly goes to housing owners who end up contributing to the schools. Personally, I tell myself that all my property tax goes to the Sheriff’s Department rather than the schools. It’s just a mental construct, but it makes me feel better. I like the Sheriff’s Department: they have a sense of humor.
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