What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today?

[Jmustang1968]

Yeah, when I was in school, students supplied all of our own notebook paper, pens, pencils, binders etc. Teachers provided any necessary print-outs and such.

I have aome teacher friends who teach in poorer schools where the students often do not bring such supplies, so they do what they can to help.

Elkin, how many exemptions do you claim on W4?

[prfsnl_gmr]

Each grade is given a list of things to bring on the first "meet the teacher night". The schools work with local retailers (wal-mart, Target) to have them out and easy to find.

For example - my 2nd grader had to bring (6) sharpies, (4) rolls of clear tape, (4) bottles of glue, (3) rolls of paper towel and (3) boxes of Kleenex. Times that by 90 kids in 2nd grade and you have enough of those items for the entire school. It costs us about $20 per kid each year. They money is always going to come from somewhere. In this case instead of from the teacher, or from our taxes, it comes direct from the kids using it.

Certainly, we do this, but those efforts only go so far. It is getting to the point here where the schools are asking parents and teachers to donate the most basic services and supplies, such as books, building maintenance, lab equipment, rubber bands, printer paper, pens, and all of the other things that really should have a line item in the schools' budgets. (Our state legislature effectively cut $500 million from our school's budgets during the last legislative session.)

Also - I understand the gripes, but keep in mind - it is generally us, the voters, who approve or don't approve the increases to our property taxes to allow for better schools, and better compensation for teachers. We are the decision makers. Either through direct votes on a county / city level, or through the representatives we send to the state capitols and Washington.

In North Carolina...not really. Unlike Minnesota, we are an exceptionally gerrymandered state. Despite the fact that our population is split roughly 50/50 between Democrats and Republicans - Barack Obama narrowly won North Carolina in 2008 and Mitt Romney narrowly won it in 2012 - 10 of our 13 representative to the U.S. House are Republicans, and the Republicans in our state legislature have a veto-proof majority (that often overrides the veto of our moderate Republican governor). Accordingly, the primary elections are the only ones that matter in most parts of the state, and a large percentage of the state's population is effectively disenfranchised in anything other than a state-wide election. The Republicans in our state legislature also instituted a variety of measures (such as drastically reducing the early voting period) designed to make it less convenient for their political enemies to vote. Accordingly, it is a widely held belief that our current electoral system is basically a joke. (Everyone admits this, but the party in power, for some reason, never wants to fix it...)

Also - and to be fair - the Democrats who previosuly held power in this state undoubtedly rigged the electoral system in their favor. They did not do so to the same extent as the current legislature, however, and (IMO, at least) two wrongs never make a right. (That is, it was wrong for them to do it too, and they are equally blameworthy for failing to fix these systemic issues.)

[ElkinFencer10]

Elkin, how many exemptions do you claim on W4?

I can only claim 1, unfortunately.

Normally in North Carolina, the "teacher supply list" works to help a lot with supply issues, but in my school, over 98% of the kids' families are on food stamps. The AVERAGE income (not median) for the county is $15,000. This entire area is just too economically depressed for the parents to be able to help.

As prfsnl said, North Carolina is RIDICULOUSLY gerrymandered, keeping the GOP in pretty much uncontested control of the General Assembly, and the NC GOP has been on a crusade to undermine public schools by funneling money (over $24 million this year) into charter schools and private school vouchers. That's not anything about the national GOP, but the Republican Party in this state has for decades been EXTREMELY hostile towards the education system here, and that's only been exacerbated since Pat McCrory became governor.

[Jmustang1968]

Elkin, how many exemptions do you claim on W4?

I can only claim 1, unfortunately.

Normally in North Carolina, the "teacher supply list" works to help a lot with supply issues, but in my school, over 98% of the kids' families are on food stamps. The AVERAGE income (not median) for the county is $15,000. This entire area is just too economically depressed for the parents to be able to help.

As prfsnl said, North Carolina is RIDICULOUSLY gerrymandered, keeping the GOP in pretty much uncontested control of the General Assembly, and the NC GOP has been on a crusade to undermine public schools by funneling money (over $24 million this year) into charter schools and private school vouchers. That's not anything about the national GOP, but the Republican Party in this state has for decades been EXTREMELY hostile towards the education system here, and that's only been exacerbated since Pat McCrory became governor.

I claim 0, you should probably consider doing so as well if you have no dependents.

[ElkinFencer10]

Elkin, how many exemptions do you claim on W4?

I can only claim 1, unfortunately.

Normally in North Carolina, the "teacher supply list" works to help a lot with supply issues, but in my school, over 98% of the kids' families are on food stamps. The AVERAGE income (not median) for the county is $15,000. This entire area is just too economically depressed for the parents to be able to help.

As prfsnl said, North Carolina is RIDICULOUSLY gerrymandered, keeping the GOP in pretty much uncontested control of the General Assembly, and the NC GOP has been on a crusade to undermine public schools by funneling money (over $24 million this year) into charter schools and private school vouchers. That's not anything about the national GOP, but the Republican Party in this state has for decades been EXTREMELY hostile towards the education system here, and that's only been exacerbated since Pat McCrory became governor.

I claim 0, you should probably consider doing so as well if you have no dependents.

Well, when I say 1, I meant the first part of the form where it says "Put 1 for yourself if no one else can claim you as a dependent."

[Jmustang1968]

Yep I still claim 0. That is basically telling them how much to take out of your checks to cover your taxes. You will get a smaller check claiming 0, but you should never owe and get that surprise at the end of the year.

[ElkinFencer10]

Yep I still claim 0. That is basically telling them how much to take out of your checks to cover your taxes. You will get a smaller check claiming 0, but you should never owe and get that surprise at the end of the year.

Huh. I didn't know I had the option of putting 0. I always figured the IRS would break into my house in the middle of the night and drag me to Alcatraz in chains if I made the slightest error or mistake anywhere on anything ever.

I'm only slightly kidding. Seriously, that was/is almost a legit fear. The IRS is fucking ruthless...

[Stark]

Yep I still claim 0. That is basically telling them how much to take out of your checks to cover your taxes. You will get a smaller check claiming 0, but you should never owe and get that surprise at the end of the year.

Huh. I didn't know I had the option of putting 0. I always figured the IRS would break into my house in the middle of the night and drag me to Alcatraz in chains if I made the slightest error or mistake anywhere on anything ever.

I'm only slightly kidding. Seriously, that was/is almost a legit fear. The IRS is fucking ruthless...

I have 4 dependents and I claim 0.

[Xeogred]

It's a good thing we learned how to dissect dead birds in middle school, instead of ever being taught about taxes in school. Rigggggght?

[KalessinDB]

It's a good thing we learned how to dissect dead birds in middle school, instead of ever being taught about taxes in school. Rigggggght?

I hear this complaint all the time and man... 1040ez never struck me as confusing, even at 17. 1040a isn't much worse either. Maybe I'm just better at math than I realized?