Opinion -- Eliminating Income Tax Could Cause Massive Cuts in School Funding

By the Missouri Budget Project

Lawmakers are considering swapping out the income tax for a greatly expanded sales tax. The proposal would blow a $5 billion hole in the state budget, causing massive cuts to schools, particularly in rural areas.

If resulting cuts are equally distributed across the budget, state general revenue funding for local schools would be cut by more than one-third, or $1.4 billion statewide. As illustrated in a new report from Missouri Budget Project, a nonprofit public policy analysis organization that analyzes state budget, tax, and economic issues, this could result in a nearly 18% cut in TOTAL school revenue including local funds, depending on the school district.

“Missouri already shortchanges our schools, providing a smaller portion of funding for our classrooms than any other state in the nation,” said Amy Blouin, President and CEO of Missouri Budget Project. “This kind of cut would be devastating to students across our state.”

Across all of Missouri’s local school districts, on average that is a cut of over $1,800 per student and is the equivalent of the average salary of nearly 27,000 teachers or over 46,000 support staff, like bus drivers, cafeteria workers, custodians, paraeducators, and office staff.

“Potential cuts would be harmful not only to students, but to communities across Missouri. Rural school districts would be particularly hard hit, and schools are the economic drivers of many of our communities,” Blouin continued. “These types of cuts could lead to district consolidation and job cuts, damaging local economies.”