Why Should I pay taxes for schools and I don't have a child?

Question

I pay $688 per year for schools in my county. Why should I have to pay those taxes, because I do not have a child in school? Parents with children should bear that burden, not me. I'm not against education, but it is my choice not to have a child and I should not be assessed taxes for other people's children. They get federal tax deductions for having children, but I don't. I'm trying to put myself through higher education and could put those taxes I pay toward my own education. Can anyone politely tell me why I should pay for someone else to go to school when I can't afford to pay for my own education?

Answer 1

Didn't you go to public school yourself?? People who didn't have children then paid for your education through taxes also, right? Even if you attended private school, some tax dollars were still used. It just one of those burdens government puts on us to pay for services. Example, just because your house never went on fire, should you not pay taxes to pay for firemen, engines, firehouses,etc.?

Answer 2

Your parents paid taxes for your school, unless they are illegally in the USA, then it is likely that they did not. If you have been sterilized, and never had kids then you should not. If you will have kids, then you should pay.

You have to pay the taxes because people with no kids represent a minority. Thus most of the voters are people with kids. The legislators have a vested interest in satisfying the majority, not the minority.

After you are 55 you can avoid paying the tax for schools by moving into an adults only community. That is about all you can do. I am not ever having children but I will have to pay for schools until I am 55 and can move into one.

I agree that the people having kids should cover the burden, not the Childfree. Our country has not enough resources for all these kids being born. By hitting breeders in the pocket book, we can discourage breeding.

Answer 3

The thoery behind this is that everyone in the body politic benefits from having an educated populace. As you go about your daily business, you can assume that everyone else is literate, numerate, has a good basis in civic responsibilities, and so on. To secure these blessings to ourselves and cover our collective posterior, we tax everyone for the benefit of having a school building and a cadre of support personnel.

There are quite a few public projects which are established and maintatined by general taxation regardless of use. These include the libraries, public safety, various utilities, and so on. See your property tax statement's documentation for an overt list. It will take a bit of research to uncover the lesser-known items covered by your indirect taxes. Out here, we have very thorough general reports from the Cascade Policy Institute.

Once the legislature decides to fund a project, there are three basic theories of taxation:
per capita (everyone pays the same amount);
per use (pay as you go -- registration and permit fees, gasoline tax);
ability to pay (income tax, property tax).

Balancing these theories, providing various government projects, and still getting re-elected is a good trick. It would be a lot easier if the electorate would educate themselves better and vote accordingly -- the feedback to our elected officials would be much more accurate and proactive.

Answer 4

Because some day you might. And you don't want that run down school to be struggling because for so long they had no money to keep it up to date.

If you don't have kids. Well then someday you might be the boss of these uneducated children. Someday you might have to hire one of them and you'll wonder then.. what kind of education did they get that they can't even write sentences?

Its the old saying.. "it takes a village to raise a child."

Answer 5

You were provided not only with a school but with a store of knowledge accumulated by educated people over millennium that has given you opportunities that previous generations only dreamed of. By taking advantage of this heritage you incur a obligation to pass on to the next generation what was given to you.

Answer 6

It is to your advantage to have an educated community. You will be faced with lots of unfair taxes in your life, but is this case, you get some benefit from the tax. What we need are vouchers.

Answer 7

Put it this way. Do you want them hanging around infront of your house all day skateboarding becuase their school didnt have enough money and had to close? The community paid for your public school education and you have to help pay for todays youths.

Answer 8

You are being paid back for your taxes each time you work with an educated person. How do you think your doctor, your nurse, your accountant, your grocery manager, etc. were able to provide services to you?

Answer 9

yes just because you have no kids the ones you are paying taxes for are going to contribute to society.

Answer 10

Because you still have a duty to the society you live in...even if you don't have kids.