In part one, I conducted an online search for “republican teacher”or “conservative teacher” and uncovered a high level of toxic discourse directed towards public school teachers who do not fall in line with the accepted liberal doctrine. It was as if being a conservative teacher is an oxymoron.
Those who commented on the topic were incredulous that a teacher would cast a ballot for a conservative candidate, with the consensus being that those who did must be either a) self-hating or b) ardently anti-abortion. While social issues are a strong reason for anyone to vote republican, an educator’s self-interest does not automatically parallel those of liberals. Like any other voter, it is those twin pillars of the conservative movement, smaller government and lower taxes, that attract teachers to the Republican Party. In this post lower taxes will be explored.
The party of lower taxes, the GOP, needs to appeal to the bottom line when it comes to public school teachers. Teachers pay taxes, too. We pay federal and state income taxes. We pay school and property taxes. We pay sales tax, county tax, capital gains tax and all the other taxes that our government pilfers from hard-working Americans every week. I, like all Americans, would like to have more of my money at the end of that week. While some have argued that voting democrat is in my own best interest, there has yet been a solid explanation of how this helps my wallet. How does voting democrat leave more money in my paycheck? It doesn’t. It is the party of big government, and big government costs money, whereas less government means less spending and that puts more money back into my pocketbook.
The party of lower taxes, the GOP, needs to appeal to the bottom line when it comes to public school teachers. Teachers pay taxes, too. We pay federal and state income taxes. We pay school and property taxes. We pay sales tax, county tax, capital gains tax and all the other taxes that our government pilfers from hard-working Americans every week. I, like all Americans, would like to have more of my money at the end of that week. While some have argued that voting democrat is in my own best interest, there has yet been a solid explanation of how this helps my wallet. How does voting democrat leave more money in my paycheck? It doesn’t. It is the party of big government, and big government costs money, whereas less government means less spending and that puts more money back into my pocketbook.
Take the recently passed federal payroll tax increase. As of January 2013, every working American is contributing an extra 2% of their income to keep social security afloat. That is a considerable amount of money, and teachers are not exempt. Let me illustrate a point with a personal example. My teachers’ union, like many nationwide, has negotiated with our district a small yearly pay increase. Aside from earning recompense for professional development, this yearly pay increase is the only way teachers in our district have to increase our salaries. (Whether or not merit pay is more equitable or produces better teachers is a topic for another post.) The 2% payroll tax increase, calculated between today and the year I plan to retire, eats up a significant portion of the total value of my yearly pay increase over the course of my career. How is that helping teachers? Democrats want to argue they are looking out for teachers, but taxes hit us just a hard as they do everyone else. The GOP is the party of lower taxes, and as such, our liberal-minded colleagues should give the party a second look.
Another liberal argument is that democrats support more funding for our public schools. I would argue that more money is not the answer. The red tape that comes with state and federal aid is a huge problem. There are strings attached to every dollar districts receive here in my state. School boards are not afforded much leeway in allocating monies as they see fit. Instead, aid allotments are tied to categories that must be funded, such as technology or textbooks or capital projects, etc. Districts are required to spend money on state approved projects, whether they need them or not, or else they lose the money outright. This divvying up of funds results in some truly mind-boggling outcomes: a district may install a brand new football field the very same year teachers in that district are laid off. Newly purchased technology goes unused by students due to a lack of adult supervision in computer labs. A wide range of materials, stocked in libraries, go unread by children due to cut-backs of librarians. Let the professionals on school boards make the decisions on how to spend district aid. They know what’s best for their students, and they are accountable to voters. Free up school boards with less government strings attached and you will see a more personalized approach to your child’s education. School districts, given the ability to budget in more logical and local ways, will not have to resort to a continual series of tax hikes to fund our schools.
These are just two of the reasons why teachers should give conservative ideas another look. Teachers have more in common with the goals of the conservative movement than many republicans might think. Progressives have taken teachers for granted for too long, and the GOP would be wise to look to the ranks of public school teachers for future votes.
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