Education Policy, Business and Technology

Tax Hikes to Fund Schools? Once Taboo, the Idea Is Gaining Momentum

Education Week: Politicians on the state campaign trail this year are making some eye-popping promises for parents and educators: billions more dollars for schools, double-digit pay raises for teachers, and hundreds of millions more to replace dilapidated schoolhouses.

And in some states, Democrats are going so far as to broach a topic often seen as off-limits in election season: tax increases.

Drawing confidence from poll data, an uptick in successful local referendum measures, and the swell of support for thousands of teachers who went on strike this spring for increased pay, Democrats in states such as Arizona, Florida, and Oklahoma are gambling that voters are so alarmed at the financial disrepair of their local school systems that they're willing to tax states' corporations and wealthiest citizens to bail them out.

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