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Governor signed Bill 13 now P.L. 28-20 on Thursday, March 17, 2005.
After years of the government chronically under-funding public
schools, educators have responded to the needs of their students
by spending their own money on various supplies including books,
pencils, crayons, paper, glue, scissors and erasers.
Currently, the tax code allows a $250 deduction from adjusted gross
income allowing teachers and other educators to deduct qualified
expenses (even if the educator does not itemize the expenses as
deductions).
Given Guam's inadequate funding of the school system, it is almost
a certainty that educators will continue to attempt to meet the
needs of their students by spending their own money. The Educator
Appreciation Act allows educators to claim a tax rebate to recover
up to five hundred dollars ($500) of personal expenditures over
and above the two hundred-fifty dollar ($250) deduction allowed
by the Internal Revenue Code.
While the $250 tax deduction may be sufficient for teachers in
some mainland states, it is woefully inadequate for many teachers
in the Guam Public School System. Our teachers are constantly spending
their own money on things DOE should furnish.
For nearly 40 years, GEDA Qualifying Certificates have been issued
to businesses allowing them tax rebates to encourage economic development.
The Educator Appreciation Act extends the functional equivalent
of the Qualifying Certificate (The Educator's Qualifying Certificate
or EQC) and tax rebate, on a much smaller scale, to teachers. While
this rebate is insufficient to make up for the economic hardship
suffered by teachers, it is one way for this community to show its
appreciation to its educators. |
