Class reaction - April 8

I found Dr. Pope's explanation of South Carolina school's funding very interesting and necessary. Now, I better understand why it is so hard to come up with a good way to fund schools. Now, I see that funding the schools with funds from property tax does not equally distribute the money. However, did the decision makers not foresee the inevitable with funding the schools with sales tax money? I thought the description of Virginia's method seemed like the best option we visited. The schools should be funded through both property tax and through sales tax. This would help the school districts survive economic downturns. The money would be less vulnerable. The state sets a thresh hold, and the wealthier counties give excess money to the less wealthy counties to help them reach the thresh hold. Dr. Pope told us that the problem with this is that the most influential people in politics usually live in the wealthier counties. The people in the wealthier counties push for lower thresh holds so that the other counties will need less of their money and they get the funds back. Although this may not be a perfect solution, I think it beats South Carolina's solution of using primarily funding from sales tax.

My parents raised me to treat people fairly and to love everyone. The people in my class may have thought my comment to throw the property tax money into a bowl and distribute it fairly among the counties was crazy. I see the argument that people want their tax money to go to their school district to educate their own children. I just do not understand this rationale because of what my parents taught me. I have two preschool aged children and still want my tax money to help educate all of the children in South Carolina. I love all children (not just my own) and am just now coming to terms with the fact that other people do not feel the same.