Donald Trump has some punishments for teachers hidden in his new tax bill. Selling it to Americans under the claim that many teachers would be getting tax cuts, it will instead take away a provision that helps teachers in favor of helping golf course owners. To call this new tax bill “Morally Bankrupt” might even be a compliment for the people who constructed it.
A report by Time relayed that exact quote from Washington Rep. Suzan DelBene as she spoke about the new Republican tax plan.
She called the Republican tax plan morally bankrupt and stated that it wasn't helping Americans. The report also received confirmation from Thomas Barthold, chief of staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, who stated that teachers would indeed be shouldering a larger burden when it comes to school-related expenses.
Republicans and Trump target teachers
Under this new tax plan, teachers will no longer be able to deduct money spent to purchase supplies for their classrooms and students. When 99.5 percent of teachers spend their own money on school supplies, this is a direct attack on the people who work to educate the children of this country.
The average amount of money that teachers spend on classroom supplies is $495 each year, this according to a study conducted by the National School Supply and Equipment Association. As Time reported, one teacher, who has a salary of $35,000 per year, was spending $2,000 to $3,000 of her own money to help the students in her classroom.
The tax break had helped teachers
The previous tax provision allowed teachers to deduct up to $250 from their yearly taxes for school supplies they purchased for their classrooms. This included books, pencils, pens, and teaching materials for students that schools could not afford or simply expected their teachers to cover. Now, Republicans are working hard to make sure that those teachers are punished for trying to help their students.
Corporations will still be allowed to deduct buying supplies for their companies. Teachers will not.
Skeptics of the tax break claims that President Donald Trump was making have been stating for a long time that this new plan would only help the wealthy. This is the first president in years that refused to release his own tax returns, but he wants to make a stand against teachers who just want to help their students. It’s still possible that Congress could fix the mess that Trump and the Republican Senate has created, but time is running out.