- The deduction is for unreimbursed expenses for books, supplies, computer equipment (including related software and services), other equipment, and supplementary materials that you use in the classroom.
- To qualify for the deduction you must be a kindergarten through grade 12:
- Teacher
- Instructor
- Counselor
- Principal, or
- Aide, and
- You work at least 900 hours a school year in a school that provides elementary or secondary education, as determined under state law.
But, my school expenses are excluded because our school is in our home.
Why?? It's not fair. By homeschooling, we are reducing the burden on the public school system because we pay our (very high) property taxes and yet my children are not draining the system of any money. We are provided with none of the equipment or materials that are provided by the state to other teachers. Private school teachers qualify for this deduction, so it's clearly not a matter of homeschooling not being publicly funded. If homeschooling is a legal way to provide education for my kids (which it is in Texas), then I can't think of a single reason why homeschoolers should not qualify for this deduction. Except for the teachers unions, feeling threatened by homeschooling, manipulating legislators into including these discriminatory exclusions.
Anyway, it really makes me mad.
2. May-May went home today. It was fun having her here. She and Sandy ended up getting along pretty well after the first couple of days. It was really fun seeing how excited she got when Susie and Ander came by to pick her up.
3. My visiting teacher came over this afternoon and gave me the most wonderful foot massage. Isn't that the nicest thing? My feet get really swollen and painful and that massage was like a little bit of heaven.
3 comments:
I would be flabbergasted if a teacher's union had done anything to restrict this. Professional educators can only request a $250 deduction, and I have never met one who didn't spend that much on their students before school started! My guess is that accountants decided they needed some severe limits, otherwise ANY and EVERY family would try to write off all sorts of extracuricular education experiences, including every home computer (which is used for homework, undoubtedly) the microsoft suite, all music for personal practice, even every book from Barnes and Noble. You KNOW people would try that, so I understand why they are so restrictive, even though I wish I could deduct much more than I can.
I also don't know any public school teachers who feel "threatened" by homeschools. Many do not feel positively about homeschools, for sure, but it is not a matter of feeling threatened.
Just my 2 bits.
I might buy that, except that the description of who qualifies for the deduction already restricts it to teachers to teach more than 900 hours per school year. The average parent does not spend that much time doing homework with their children, but homeschooling parents do. I have no problem with the deduction being for full-time educators. I resent homeschooling parents not being accepted as full-time educators when they are.
I know $250 is not a huge amount, but it's the principle of the thing that has me bugged. And I think you seriously underestimate the reach and scope of the teachers unions in politics. Homeschooling represents a freedom of education that is exceedingly threatening to the unions-- just look at the virulent opposition to vouchers.
Unions are active in politics, for sure (as is every industry in the US!), but tax policy? Not so much. Homeschooling is really not on our (professional educators) radar, nor are truly private schools, really, but vouchers and charter schools have actual power to decimate the public schooling systems by leaching money, community, and positive peers, but leaving behind, quite frankly, the neediest and most expensive students. That is much too big a topic for a blog comment, so I'll leave it there. Yes, teachers have political concerns. We too wish we had bigger deductions, but we are much more interested in actual education legislation than in tax policy.
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