Man Bites Dog! ... Oh wait: Why would a California teachers' union oppose a tax increase that would raise unionized teachers' salaries? Because some (18%) of the money would go to increasingly popular charter schools.
California Democrats aren't supposed to talk smack about the teachers unions, they're supposed to get on their knees, pucker up, and smooch an orifice or two. That he calls them out for being petty shows a true streak of independence, a welcome sign for someone of his political persuasion.
I doubt he has much of a chance to unseat Barbara Boxer in the primary, but a guy can hope!
(BTW, I wonder, if this tax increase were to go through, if I would get more of a raise than I'd pay in taxes. Just wondering....)
8 comments:
"BTW, I wonder, if this tax increase were to go through, if I would get more of a raise than I'd pay in taxes. Just wondering...."
Since this tax increase seems to effect Oakland residents and teachers, I don't see how you would either get a raise or pay more in taxes. Or am I missing something?
Your blog says that your location is "Sacramento area", which typically does not include Oakland :-)
-Mark Roulo
It helps for me to pay more attention. Doh!
Of course your raise would be higher than the amount you would pay in taxes . . .even if the raise triggered a higher marginal tax rate, that would only apply to the dollars earned after that point, so you would be better off by the remaining percentage of those extra dollars. You are never made worse by a pay raise, and perpetuating that urban myth is a disservice to your blog readers.
Don't be so dramatic, max. There's no guarantee that teachers would get all the money from the tax increase, so I *could* conceivably end up with less.
Until Charter schools actually play by the same rules, or public schools get the same rules as Charters, count me out.
I'm sure charter school operators would love to have the option of blithely ignoring their responsibilities as do district schools but it's just not the case.
Sorry Darren, you stepped on one of my economics-common-misunderstandings land mines. I'll offer a better reason to oppose it: any tax that doesn't go to the general fund is bad.
I showed neither support nor opposition to this tax bill. I support Kaus' dig on the CTA.
But I'm sure the CTA's *real* reason for opposing the bill was because the money doesn't go to the general fund :-)
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