The Core Knowledge Blog

The tax code, in theory, should advantage behavior that accrues to the public good. That’s why there are generous tax breaks for college tuition. But if education is a public good, why not subsidize K-12 the way we subsidize college? That’s the provocative question posed by New York Times Freakonomics blogger Stephen J. Dubner. Sure, you can get a free public school education, while college is rarely free. But that’s not a very satisfying or consistent answer.

“If you live in New York, like I do, and choose to send your kids to a private school, you can easily pay $30,000 a year for tuition — more than many colleges,” writes Dubner. “That’s a choice, of course: you could send your kids to public school for free. But the college tuition savings that accumulate tax-free in a 529 plan can be spent on a private or public college: there’s no distinction. If, however, you choose to send your kids to private or parochial school, you are still paying school taxes for other people’s kids as well as the tuition for your own kids, with no tax break.”