Although many people resist acknowledging this, we use a kind of Marxism to fund our schools:
The Accidental Marxist
The Accidental Marxist, Part 2
That is, by taxing each property owner in a school district a flat rate on the assessed value of his property, we take more from people who have more. So that’s half the formula:
From each according to his ability.
To each according to his needs.
But we ignore the second half. We give the same amount of assistance to the rich that we do to the poor.
Which is a pretty half-assed kind of Marxism. A Groucho Marxism, if you will.
This is New Hampshire! If we’re going to do something, we should whole-ass it. So what would Karl Marxism look like?
Right now the process looks like this:
Figure out what the school wants to spend.
Set a tax rate to collect that amount, given the total valuation of the property in the district.
Collect the tax.
Under this scheme, Pat, who has no children, lives on a fixed income of $25,000 per year, in a house worth $200,000. He pays $2,000 in school taxes. So he’s paying $2,000 to get $0 in direct benefits.
Meanwhile, Chris, who has three children in the local schools, lives on an income of $500,000 per year, and lives in a house worth $400,000. He pays $4,000 in school taxes. But the district spends $20,000 per student to run the school. So he’s paying $4,000 to get $60,000 in direct benefits.
In other words, the poor person is subsidizing the rich person. Like I said, Groucho Marxism.
Here’s what Karl Marxism would look like:
Figure out what the school wants to spend.
Calculate the per-student cost.
Look at the income, assets, and non-discretionary expenses (e.g., medical procedures, not ski passes) of each family whose children are using the schools. Use that to determine how much of the per-student cost the family can afford to pay (which may require selling off some assets).
Collect that amount from each family.
Set a tax rate to collect the amount that can’t be funded by the families.
Collect the tax from everyone but the families.
Now, what Pat pays goes down, while what Chris pays goes up — but not by more than ‘his fair share’. From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs, right?
Ruth Ward et Rick Ladd removenda est
