Tax credit for teachers proposed

By: Jim Cook | Dothan Eagle
Published: January 27, 2012

A provision of Gov. Robert Bentley’s education agenda includes a $300 tax credit that teachers can take advantage of to get reimbursed for the money they spend out-of-pocket for school supplies each year.

Bentley included the proposal in a series of education reforms he recently released in the run-up to the upcoming Alabama legislative session.

State allocations to teachers for school supplies have been cut greatly since 2008. This year teachers received $134 to help them supply their classrooms with paper, teaching tools and other necessary material. In 2008, teachers received $525 each.

A tax deduction allows taxpayers to reduce the amount of their income that is taxable. A tax credit directly reduces the amount of tax taxpayers must pay.

Linda Alford, a reading coach at Slingluff Elementary School, said the credit would be helpful to teachers, who have to pay just to have copies made. Alford estimates teachers on average pay about $550 to $600 out of their own pockets for school supplies each year.

“You would just have to be in a classroom all day to see the things that we need,” she said.