Brother, Can You Spare An Education?

In 2010, the United States spent a collective 591B$ on public elementary and secondary education. That's broken down into three categories- state, local, and federal- 43.5%, 44%, and 12.5% respectively. 

Given what's happened in Philadelphia, where they forced guidance counselors to be teachers and fired non-essential staff like certified teachers, assistant principals, aides, therapists, etc., I think it's time that we kill the idea that local property taxes should fund local schools. If everyone in America lived in Harrison, NY, which has enough money to fund TWO TEAMS from EACH SPORT at the MODIFIED LEVEL, that would be fine. I was an assistant coach at Harrison for the 7/8th grade baseball team for two months- I received $3500. Ridiculous money. However, some kids live in areas where homes and businesses are deserted and the economically abled have already left. Let's stop fucking them over in childhood, so we don't have to marginalize them as adults.

I want to know from conservatives (and others) if they would accept a permanent reduction and cap in property taxes in return for the federal government absorbing some of the burden local communities currently have in funding schools? 

The TOTAL local burden for funding schools is 44% of 591B$, which is 260B$. 29% of that comes from local property taxes, meaning that approximately 75B$ per year homes and businesses are taxed to fund their local schools.

75B$ could be found overnight in the federal government. For example, matching capital gains tax to the highest income tax level would raise 80B$ next year. Point one percent of people took home 50% of capital gains in '10- you're not going to win gambling from the bottom, so let it go. Don't like tax increases? Fine. We could open up no-bid DOD contracts (140B$ per year) to a competitive, market based process. That could easily save 75B$. We could go further in reducing defense, such as closing half of all overseas military bases (around 1,000 if new bases go up in Afghanistan & Iraq), which would save 50-60B$ per year. Don't want to touch the military's budget because you believe in the boogeyman? Fine. We could end subsidies for ONLY the top ten largest corporations and save 90B$ per year. You find ending subsidies to immensely profitable corporations to be appalling? Fine. We could ask the federal reserve to print 75B$ (euphemism for the complex manner in which the money supply is managed) each year specifically to cover the cost. They somehow cobbled together SEVEN TRILLION to stabilize the banking system. You hate the federal reserve and believe it has contracted with a foreign government to have Ron Paul assassinated? Fine. Then let's just kill all the poor kids and move on.

There's more than enough money in this country to cut property taxes for everyone, continue existing funding levels in economically stable communities, and raise funding levels in communities that have been deprived of equal funding for decades. What's going in Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, and other major and minor American cities is a crime, and someday soon, we will all answer for it. This future jury, comprised of graduates from our failing school system, will render its verdict- Gilltee az chardge.