Tax Proposal Says Teaching Is Important in California

Gov. Gray Davis’ proposal to exempt credentialed California teachers from state income taxes was bold and forward- thinking. It was also very controversial. The idea sparked a conversation heard throughout the state, some of it negative, all of it passionate.

But even though state state legislators downsized that potentially $500-million proposal into a $218-million teacher income tax credit in the budget approved last week, all should certainly appreciate the message and the conversation it created. I applaud Davis for the courage and vision it took to present his plan. The revised version now awaits his signature.

Davis was telling the people of California that teaching is the most important job for the future of our state. Teaching is so important, his statement said, that he was willing to take some heat for the concept and forego half a billion dollars in state revenue.

The proposed exemption was the topic of conversation in Sacramento and everywhere else I went after May 14, when Davis presented that portion of his “May revise,” the annual revisions to the budget proposed in January.

Even those who criticized the tax exemption idea--and there were many--began their opposition by lauding teachers for the importance of the work they do and acknowledged that they must be better compensated. With that as the beginning, the conversation alone has been worth millions toward improving the status of teaching.

We have a looming crisis in California education, a critical shortage of credentialed teachers. We need to recruit 300,000 new teachers over the next 10 years to handle our growing youth population. The shortage is even more profound in the administrative ranks.

Yet how many of us encourage our sons and daughters to become teachers? How many of us encourage the best and brightest of the next generation into a career that pays them an average starting salary of $33,000 with the potential of topping out at $65,000 after 30 years of challenging labor? How many of us could tell the next generation that what an education professional may lack in cash rewards is repaid in status in our society?

Davis’ proposal tipped the scale more toward teachers. Davis was telling us that teaching is the only profession in California held in such high esteem that he would create a special category for it alone. He was telling us that teachers perform such a valuable service that they need not pay more state income tax.

Could a more powerful statement be made about the value of teaching? What a powerful tool to recruit the best and brightest of our university graduates to join such a noble profession. What a powerful message to students to pay attention to these prized community servants. What a powerful message to the parents of students about the deference that should be paid to these professionals.

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This conversation in our state capitol spawned revisions to the teacher credit tax exemption proposal. The governor and legislators negotiated a tax credit for educators that would grow based on the years of successful service and peak for those with an annual salary of $80,000. They also discussed a sunset of the tax credit in 10 years, when the crisis in education presumably will have passed and we will have enough credentialed teachers.

The original proposal raised a cry from other groups that also perform extremely valuable public services: police, fire crews and paramedics. That’s great because it gives us another opportunity for conversation. When we start talking about the comparisons, we see that we have no immediate and critical shortage in recruiting new people into public safety fields. We also see that these dedicated people have already been compensated, and rightly so, with starting salaries of about $50,000 with generous packages of benefits, extra-pay opportunities and much deserved time off.

A bill sponsored by state Sen. Jack O’Connell (D-San Luis Obispo) would narrow the gap for teachers somewhat by providing state funds to raise staring salaries to $38,000 statewide.

Davis’ proposal got people talking about teachers, how much we need them, how important their work is to our future.

Although the governor’s proposal was revised it nevertheless has raised the status of teachers. It has offered encouragement to he best and brightest of our next generation to become teachers.

Let’s keep talking about the importance of teachers. It’s a great conversation.