Unfair to tax the rich? Tell that to students

Many Arizonans say they’re deeply offended by the “tax the rich” proposed ballot initiative. It’s unfair, they say, to single out a group of people to shoulder the burden of adding much-needed funding for K-12 public education.

They’re right that everyone should share the responsibility, and everyone does — through sales taxes and other financial mechanisms. The #InvestinEd effort is different because the top earners would be taxed for additional education dollars. Strictly on the merit of fairness, that offends me, too.

But what offends me even more is Arizona’s crusade to dismantle the state’s public-education system, which educates 1.1 million students. For years, the power elite has systematically cut funding to K-12 schools and set out to use tax dollars for private education.

Against that backdrop, there came a stampede to defend the rich against #InvestinEd.

The velocity with which even reasonable folks rushed to bat for the rich doesn’t mean the initiative is invalid, or even as bad as they say. It only crystallizes the fact that the powerful elites have plenty of friends, while the poor, many of whom happen to be minorities with children in public schools, are left hanging out to dry. That offends me deeply.

#InvestinEd backers say they’ve gathered about 270,000 signatures, or 100,000 more than required, so expect an all-out war to keep it off the ballot this November, when it has an opportunity to become law.

Why?

Arizona’s marginal income-tax rates would go up to 8 percent (from the current 4.54 percent) on individual income higher than $250,000 and couples’ income above $500,000. The rate would go up to 9 percent for individual income higher than $500,000 and couples’ income above $1 million.

That tax would generate roughly $690 million annually to boost teacher salaries, support staff and other expenses, such as funding for all-day kindergarten.

This means only about the top 2 to 3 percent of Arizonans would be hit with that tax, prompting the “unfairness” rallying cry. Why should such a small percentage of people carry that burden?

I must recast the question. Why does such a small percent of Arizonans make that kind of money in the first place? Do I dare say that the wealth isn’t spread evenly because our state K-12 public system is failing to educate and train our workforce?

I dare say it’s been too convenient for wealthy Arizonans to ignore the plight of teachers and their rallying cry for help over the years.

I dare say the same wealthy Arizonans have been delighted with Gov. Doug Ducey’s kept promise of reducing taxes every single year he’s in office. And I dare say they’ve been enjoying all sorts of state and federal tax breaks and tax cuts while 1.1 million students and teachers have been left out to dry.

Where is the fairness in that?

Yes, a good chunk of Arizona’s $10 billion budget goes to K-12 schools, but it isn’t enough, leaving our state near the bottom nationally in per-pupil spending and with a severe teacher shortage.

To his credit, Ducey responded to the #RedforEd teacher walkout in May with #20by2020, a three-year plan to give teachers a 20 percent raise. But his plan is based on rosier-than-projected revenues, and by many accounts, it isn’t sustainable.

That is it, folks. There is nothing else in play now that addresses the systemic K-12 budget problems, the teacher shortage, the dismal classroom instruction, the financial inequities and the lack of consistent quality among school districts. Critics will tell you that the #Invest inEd initiative is bad because it would use 60 percent of the new money for teacher pay and the rest for operations, including all-day kindergarten and support staff.

They’ll tell you it’s bad because it changes the definition of a “teacher” to include nurses, counselors, social workers, psychologists and librarians. What’s wrong with that? It would dilute teachers’ pay, they’ll tell you.

How about you ask teachers? I’m sure they’re generous enough to want other staff to get a few more bucks, too.

Critics will tell you that the #Invest inEd initiative is class warfare. This is at best laughable. Who’s perpetuating the class warfare if not the same wealthy Arizonans and their friends desperately defending their assets?

In a perfect world, this tax-the-rich ballot initiative should have never seen the light of day. But this isn’t a perfect world. This is an unfair world where the #InvestinEd initiative is the only one in play.

We must play the cards we’re dealt, not the ones we wish we had or the ones well-heeled Arizonans promise to deal in their quest to kill this initiative and protect the pocketbooks of their buddies.

Let’s tell the many Arizonans who say they’re deeply offended by this tax-therich plan that we, too, believe in fairness.

It is out of fairness that I’m choosing the students, the teachers and the majority of Arizonans not lucky enough to have the right friends to go to bat for them and help them earn more than $250,000 annually.