Teacher Testifies in Favor of Educator Tax Deduction

Jeff Siuta, a 2nd-grade teacher at Julian Thomas Elementary School in Racine, testified Thursday (February 21, 2008) in favor of Senate Bill 395, the educator tax deduction, at a Senate Education Committee public hearing.

Jeff Siuta

“Over the course of the past 34 years, I have personally invested thousands of dollars of my own money in my classroom and in my students,” Siuta said. “I happen to be married to another educator; my wife is a K4 teacher in Racine. It is common each year for us to spend in excess of $1,000 each on our classrooms.

“An informal poll of my colleagues showed my experience to be more the rule than the exception. They universally reported spending no less than $500 – and more commonly between $700 and $1,000 – each year on classroom expenditures,” Siuta continued.

“I work in a school where more than 90% of our students receive a free or reduced-price lunch. If their parents cannot afford to buy them school supplies, we are there with our own cache. None of us would think of having a lack of school supplies stop a student of ours from learning.

“Your support of Senate Bill 395 will not eliminate the need for teachers to personally invest in their classrooms,” Siuta said as part of his testimony. “It will, however, help to meet those needs, and it will acknowledge what we, as teachers, willingly contribute to our students’ education.”

Teachers voice support for educator tax deduction [2/13/08]

The Senate on Thursday also passed two other bills WEAC suppots, including:

• SB 108: Requires instruction in public schools on the history of organized labor and the collective bargaining process.
• SB-353: Allows a collective bargaining process for UW System faculty and academic staff.

The Senate passed SB-171, relating to public financing of campaigns for the office of justice of the Supreme Court., about which WEAC has expressed concerns.

Posted February 22, 2008