Education funding change would help public

It's disappointing to read in the newspapers about cutbacks in school services and the laying off of school personnel because of a shortage of funding, especially knowing that there is more than enough money to fund the present school system if the legislators would be willing to change the present method of funding education.

At the present time, the total income for all residents in New Jersey is more than $400 billion. As I understand it, the present cost for all primary and secondary education in the state is approximately $19 billion. If funding education would be done by a 5-percent income tax on all earnings, there would be a $1-billion surplus. There would be no need to cut necessary services, and no one would be hurt by this method of funding. The money would be collected by the state and returned to all boards of education with no strings attached. The money returned would be decided by a formula devised by the state Board of Education. For example, the board may decide to send $12,000 for each child enrolled.

Not one cent for funding education would come out of property taxes. That would mean that all property owners, regardless of age or income, would receive a 60-percent reduction in their property tax. This reduction in property taxes could result in lowered rents.

Presently people in the higher-income brackets are paying a lesser percent of their income, approximately 2 percent, than are people in the lower-income bracket, who are paying approximately 20 percent toward funding education. This is not fair, and does not follow the policy that taxes should be levied according to one's ability to pay. Why should a widow living on $18,000 a year pay $3,600 for education via her property tax of $6,000, which is 20 percent of her income? Her 5-percent share should be $900. A person earning $1 million is paying only 1.2 percent of his income toward education via his property tax of $20,000, of which $12,000 goes to education. He should be paying his fair share of 5 percent, i.e., $50, 000.

I sent this suggestion on May 24 to all state Assembly members and to Gov. Jon Corzine. I wonder why a reform effort by the Legislature spent no time even discussing such a change.

Frank J. Coury

East Brunswick