THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM - What Your Property Taxes Buy

by James Jaeger

Everyone loves the public school system, especially THEIR public schools.

And the idea of the state educating the citizenry so that all Americans are smarter and more-fully informed -- wow, what a great idea! "No kid left behind" -- the creation of “perfect citizens” in a mass-assembly plant even Henry Ford would admire. What could be more socially responsible, more supportive of the "general welfare" stipulated in the U.S. Constitution and originated by Rousseau.

Yes, the public school system sounds like a great idea on the surface, but let's take a closer look at what your PROPERTY TAXES are actually buying. An analogy may serve the point:

Let's say the WALMART CORPORATION decides to take up the mantle of public education. Now all public school education will be paid for by WALMART. Finally, no more government-sponsored public schools.

So at WALMART HIGH, what do you think they will teach?

They will teach that NAFTA, GATT and TPP are great trade deals.  They will teach that Communist Chinese slave workers are far better than American workers, AND much cheaper.  They will teach the WALMART work ethic: "screw the workers whenever possible and allocate the profits to top management."

Will pictures of Jefferson and Washington, or other presidents of the United States, be on the walls at WALMART HIGH?  Of course not, who are these guys compared to members of the Walmart Family who were instrumental in founding the WALMART CORPORATION.

And will there be any religious symbols -- like Buddha, Jesus or a "nativity scene" -- displayed at WALMART HIGH? Of course not, the only symbol that will be displayed will be an 8-foot statue of a golden $ in the lobby of every school.

Yes, the kids that graduate from WALMART HIGH will be the perfect little consumers -- each programmed to pull out their wallets and credit cards at the drop of an impulse. Each programmed to build yet more WALMARTS across the nation instead of anything resembling a dirty, old FACTORY.

Finally America's kids will be properly educated in free-market, capitalist principles at the WALMART HIGH SCHOOLS across the nation. These will truly "Make America Great!

And this is exactly what your property taxes are paying for right now at the public schools across the nation. America's kids are being properly cloned upon socialist, Marxist, principles that ensure an ever expanding state through a program of endless welfare and warfare, all paid for by fiat currency and academic ignorance.

Yes, WALMART HIGH is alive and well, only it's called GOVERNMENT HIGH. So forget about private school, charter school or home school, go get that public school diploma kids -- it's "free."

But is it? If the state taxes citizens to pay for GOVERNMENT HIGH don’t you and I have to pay for it, even if we have no kids.   Even if our kids have graduated, attend private school or are homeschooled.

To find out what the deal is, this author decided to call the property tax office of T/E Township in Pennsylvania.  When one of the bureaucrats came on the line, I asked her what the property tax goes to and she said "most of it's for the schools."

So I asked her: "Why am I paying you guys $6,645 every year when I don't have any kids in the schools?"

She said, "Because the tax is based on property ownership."

So I said, "Well what about people who send their kids to private school, homeschool or don't have kids, why should they have to pay for government services that are not needed or rendered just because they are property owners?

She said: "Well it's based on property ownership so if people don't want to pay the school tax, they can rent property. So I said: "Well isn't a major part of the American Dream to own a home? Why should a person have to rent, forego the American Dream, just because they don't want to pay a tax for some government service they are not even receiving?"

She reiterated, "Well the T/E School Tax is based on property ownership." So I said, "Well since the tax laws are being changed right now by the Trump Administration, maybe citizens should take a look at this area of property taxes too. It does not seem fair that citizens have to pay for government services that they aren't receiving."  To this she had no response except to increase my School Tax bill by the usurious sum of $400 for late payment.

Apologists of School Tax theft will argue that the citizen is paying to educate other people's kids because those kids will benefit society.  But do they?  Author David Toney has this to say:

"Public schools are expensive and inefficient at best, they are designed to produce cookie-cutter results, an obedient class of citizens who are just smart enough to perform useful tasks, but have little or no critical thinking skills.  Public schools crush the spirit, the natural curiosity and love of learning that all children start out with.  It's time to reevaluate the whole system, not to mention the entire rational of having a collective responsibility to pay for things that only others use.  In this information age the world is at our fingertips and if children are allowed to fully immerse themselves in to each subject, when they ready, they will learn and retain so much more. Learning to read is really the only skill anyone needs to learn, after that it is "off to the races."  I learned more reading on my own than I ever learned in public school."

So the School Tax pays to educate other people's kids in the public schools because those kids will benefit society.  But if parents spend often substantial sums to educate their kids at private school, aren't their kids going to benefit society just as much -- or does a kid have to be "educated" at a government school before s/he is considered a "benefit" to society?

And what about homeschoolers?  Shouldn't homeschooling parents get to keep the money they are forced to spend to educate other people kids for their own kids?  Why should kids at a public school take priority over kids educated at home or in private school?

And lastly, what about parents that have paid the School Tax for years and now their kids have graduated?  Why should they still have to pay school taxes when their kids are out of the system and they have already chipped in sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars to educate kids.

As long as the Trump Administration is taking a look at the tax system at the federal level, maybe it's high time we take a look at the tax system at the state and local levels.

After all, as the old saying goes, “most of the action takes place at the local level.”  And true enough, for some of the highest taxes are paid at the local levels so addressing just the federal level is a red herring because everyone's attention is usually placed at the federal level.  Federal taxes are changed but the most usurious and antiquated taxes imposed by state and local authorities fall between the cracks.  They never change, but constantly creep up.

For instance, look at the ridiculous 11% tax people who live in New York City have to pay, 4.7% to the city and 6.5% to the state.  Look at the PA Inheritance tax -- better known as the “death tax”.  It’s 4% of your assets and there are no deductions or tax credits.  That’s right, Pennsylvania and many states, steal 4% of your gross assets even after you are DEAD.  This intervention by the state often forces bereaved families to sell a house that has been in the family for decades just to pay the death tax.  Often one family member doesn’t want to sell the family home -- or farm, or business -- and another does.  The Inheritance tax imposed by the state thus CAUSES  thousands, if not millions, of families across the nation to quarrel and fight, often with irreconcilable damage to brothers, sisters, sons, daughters and others in the Family Unit.

Karl Marx would be proud, for nothing destroys a capitalist society and its middle class faster and more effectively than to break up Family Units and force them into dependency upon the state.

So, Property Taxes -- and the School Tax -- are just one aspect of the overall rape and pillage tax system WE THE PEOPLE are suffering under.

It's high time ALL OF THE GOVERNMENTS that force us to pay taxes to are placed into serious review and cut back to a size advised by the Founding Fathers.  Our tax burden today is way higher than the Boston Tea Party days so a peaceful tax revolt is way over due.

Watch two documentary films to get a better idea how we arrived at this point of excessive taxation, over-sized, socialist government and an unsustainable national debt of over $20 trillion.  The first film is called CULTURAL MARXISM and the second is called SPOILER.  Both can be screened as a free public service at www.HomeVideo.net or obtained on higher-quality DVD at www.MoviePubs.net   Also, support our current movie project in production, GOOD GUYS WITH GUNS, such at www.Good-Guys.us