The recent release of the proposed 2013-14 ASD budget has led to numerous complaints that the schools want to suck up our tax dollars.
In Alaska there is no state income tax and in Anchorage there is no sales tax. Also, people who simply stick around for roughly two years are "entitled" to an annual check. This only leaves property taxes and federal income tax as the oppressors. I own a home. If you don't own property and/or your federal income tax is refunded, you have little part in the school budget. Also, about one-third of the ASD budget comes from local tax/revenue. Teachers owe more of their paychecks to oil and out-of-state incomes.
Yes, about 50 percent of your property tax goes to schools but we still get off light. Schools are the single largest contributors to the public good. No one in Anchorage pays for the total amount of their child's public K-12 education. Budget increases to help keep positions are less expensive than what you claim to pay.
— Christopher Bernoski
Anchorage