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Yesterday (or 80 days into the current legislative session), Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson issued a public statement urging lawmakers to exempt public school teachers from state income taxes. What does this "nothing to lose" proposal say about Superintendent Atkinson’s role in education policy debates in North Carolina?
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CommenTerry
On Monday, Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson publicized a $250 – $300 million idea — to exempt public school teachers from state income taxes.
Superintendent Atkinson has not been the first elected official to propose an income tax exemption for teachers. In 2000, for example, former governor of California Gray Davis proposed exempting California teachers from the tax, but members of his own party were not impressed. Then Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, a Democrat from San Francisco, remarked, "I think it’s a noble thing to want to help teachers, but I can’t think of a worse policy way to do it. You can’t run the tax code by profession — it’s too slippery a slope." California voters recalled Davis three years later.
The Republican response to Atkinson’s proposal mirrored Burton’s. Representative David Lewis was being his usual kind self when he responded, "I don’t think that particular one is as well thought out as it should have been." Like Burton, Lewis and his colleagues recognize that the idea has good intentions, but it is bad public policy. Aside from the problems associated with defining and enforcing the exemption, the NC Constitution requires that taxation "be exercised in a just and equitable manner." Exempting an entire class of employee from income taxes appears to violate that requirement.
Beyond the many obvious shortcomings of the tax exemption proposal, Atkinson’s decision to issue a "nothing to lose" press release hints at something more consequential. It reflects a rift between Superintendent Atkinson and the state legislature that continues to push her to the fringes of the education policy debate in North Carolina.
Admittedly, I do not believe that this is entirely her fault. Former chairman of the State Board of Education Bill Harrison emerged as the education establishment’s most reliable opponent of the Republican-dominated legislature and I suspect that he brought Superintendent Atkinson along for the ride. Harrison’s replacement, Bill Cobey, was appointed by Governor Pat McCrory and has a good relationship with his fellow Republicans in the General Assembly. This means that Atkinson is now the leader of the opposition, a role that, I suspect, she does not feel comfortable assuming.
Although a great deal of damage has been done, I do not think that the relationship between Atkinson and Republican leaders is beyond repair. Unfortunately, I do not get the sense that Atkinson and her colleagues are ready for such an effort.
Facts and Stats
$250 – $300 million — estimated cost of exempting all K-12 and charter school teachers from the state income tax
Education Acronym of the Week
DOA — dead on arrival
Quote of the Week
"Much has been said about the need for North Carolina to become more competitive with our surrounding states when it comes to corporate income taxes. Those supporting a cut in corporate income taxes say that the reduction will attract more corporations and then we will have more jobs for North Carolinians."
– Superintendent June Atkinson, NC Department of Public Instruction press release, June 16, 2013
