We All Pay For Public Schools
Public education is universally available in our country and approximately 85% of students enter the country’s public schools, largely because they are tax-subsidized, while 10% attend private schools, nearly 2% are home schooled and the remainder are in other programs or don’t attend.
Most of us agree the US Constitution leaves the responsibility for public education (K-12) with the states although the federal government provides assistance through federal legislation, with conditions attached. The conditions only apply though if the state chooses to accept the federal funds, most of which do.
Public schools are primarily financed from four sources: state taxes (46%), local taxes(37%), federal funds (8%), and private sources (9%).
Florida spends approximately $9,000 per student annually in the public education system (compared to a US average of about $11,000) which is financed by:
- State Taxes: In Florida, where there is no income state tax, the public schools rely on the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) which are general revenue funds that primarily come from the sales tax and corporate taxes. In Florida, state taxes fund approximately 45% of the $9,000 annual cost per student or about $4,050.
- Local taxes are primarily collected through property taxes. In Florida, property taxes fund approximately 45% of the $9,000 annual cost per student, or about $4,050. But property taxes also fund local services such as the fire department, library, health care district, children’s services, and more. Allocations vary but an average of 60% of annual property taxes are allocated to public school education and 40% to other local services.
- Federal taxes: According to the Heritage Foundation, approximately $600 per US household is provided to the public schools for each child by the federal government. In Florida, federal taxes fund approximately 10% of the $9,000 cost per student or about $900 (which is higher than the national average).
- Private Sources are primarily donations, grants, and gifts from individuals, corporations, foundations and other entities. In Florida, this number is not significant.
Many people complain about the schools in Florida and no one is more vocal than the parents that send their kids to the public schools. Whether they have one, two, three or more kids in the public school system, parents need to understand three things:
- how much is being spent to educate their children;
- how much they, as parents are contributing in taxes towards their children’s education; and
- how much other taxpayers are contributing towards their children’s education.
The local property tax structure needs to be analyzed because Florida public schools are, on average more reliant on local real estate taxes than the national average indicates.
Florida, unlike most other states, protects homeowners that have their primary residence in Florida in many ways.
- First, when a home is purchased, the home is reassessed for property tax purposes at least 20% below what the actual purchase price was to allow for market fluctuations. For homeowners that claim a primary residence in Florida, this assessment is the basis for future property taxes more so than homeowners that claim the house as a second home where annual assessments can be done based on the market conditions without a cap;
- Second, the homeowner is provided with a homestead exemption which reduces the value of the home for property tax assessment up to $50,000 (but only $25,000 for school tax purposes).
- Third, year to year increases in the tax assessed value are limited to the lessor of 3% or the percentage change in the CPI.
The “Save Our Homes” amendment (which provides for the second and third actions listed above) was adopted to allow long-term home owning residents with fixed incomes to stay in their homes. But, the homestead exemption does not differentiate between income levels and therefore all primary homeowners benefit, with those in their homes the longest benefiting the most with a lower property tax bill relative to other homeowners in similar market valued homes that have not lived in their homes as long. The logic being those that have been in their homes the longest are less likely to have children in public schools, more likely to have a fixed income, and therefore less able to pay more in property taxes to support our schools. Point well taken but what about the families that have been in their homes for 15 or 20 years and have children attending public schools?
Assuming every family that has a child in public school is contributing $900 through federal taxes and $4,050 through sales tax annually (and this is a stretch), then generally speaking, a homeowner that is paying $6,750 in annual property taxes is covering the annual cost of one child in the public school system because 60% ($4,050) of the property tax bill ($6,750) represents 45% ($4,050) of the annual cost ($9,000) of educating one child. The homeowner that is paying $13,500 in annual property taxes is theoretically covering the cost of two children in the public school system, and so on.
Any shortfall has to be made up by other taxpayers. Homeowners with pre-schoolers, no children, grown children or children in private schools are carrying a significant portion of the financial burden of educating the children in public schools. It’s an unjust system at times but we all pay into supporting a public school education system that some may only use for 13 years because we believe all children have a right to an education.
The answer is not to withdraw support for public education as we all contribute for the good of the nation. But, those families that are not contributing $9,000 per child in the form of federal, state, and local taxes need to understand and appreciate what a great deal they have. Despite people saying public school is free, it really isn’t. We all pay for public schools in one way or another. Every taxpayer’s contribution is different but it’s not hard to figure out whether you’re on the receiving end or the giving end.
Paddock Post 
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