Support NeoGAF

[Tripon]

To keep teachers from being poached across state lines and offset a serious teacher shortage, California lawmakers are looking at a first-ever proposal to exempt educators from state taxes for the next decade.

While some states have no income tax, the bill would make California the only state in the nation to allow teachers who have worked more than five years in the classroom to be exempt from all state tax obligations through 2027, which translates to a 4 percent to 6 percent raise.

It would also give tax credits to all new teachers to cover their training and credentialing costs.

“Teachers are the original job creators,” said state senator Henry Stern (D-Canoga Park) in a statement Thursday who along with Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton) introduced the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Act of 2017 (SB 807). “The teaching profession is critical to California’s economic success and impacts every vocation and profession in the state.”

“We are facing an unprecedented critical shortage across the board in traditional and public charters, and right now we have 155,000 students in the state being taught by people who don’t have their full credentials,” Lucia said. “On top of that, one-third of teachers leave their profession in the first five years. Teachers leave the profession faster than first responders who go into burning buildings. That’s not sustainable.”

The bill could save a teacher making about $60,000 a total of about $2,500 in state taxes a year. The cost to exempt teachers from state taxes through 2027 is expected to cost $608.5 million a year, which Lucia emphasized “is a good investment at less than half of 1 percent of the $122.8 billion state general fund.” This also does not take out any money in the budget from teacher salaries.

http://laschoolreport.com/no-state-...-unique-bill-seeks-to-pinch-off-the-poachers/