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Seldom is the question brought up: Why are those without children expected to contribute a vastly higher percentage of their tax dollars towards K-12 education and child welfare programs than parents themselves?

The federal child tax credit currently gives parents $1000 per child, per year. A single parent making up $75,000 annually, or a married couple making up to $110,000 can collect on this "credit". Often times when the "earned income credit" is also taken, parents will actually receive money from the federal government above and beyond the taxes they paid. This is why I put the child tax "credit" in quotes. When the child tax credit becomes an entitlement, it should no longer be considered a tax credit but rather social welfare.

Public education in America is funded by all citizens, not just parents, and rightfully so. A civilized society can't expect to prosper without holding all responsible for funding quality public education. The problem arises when you look at the brazen inequity of our current system.

While parents take advantage of a generous federal child tax "credit", tax exemptions for dependents, and varying tax perks offered on both a state and federal level (daycare subsidies, tax credits for private education, age based entitlements like state funded health insurance for uninsured children, etc.), those in the working and middle class that don't have children are paying through the nose to fill in the gaps. Why is this alright?

As a general rule, 50% of everyone's property taxes will go to support K-12 education (keep in mind, most everyone pays property taxes either directly via home ownership or indirectly through their monthly rent). A portion of both our state and federal income taxes are also spent on K-12 education. Considering about 4% of the general federal fund is spent on education, some simple math should bring to light a huge injustice.

A single parent with 2 children and a taxable income of $70,000 will receive a $2000 child tax credit. Their federal tax liability will be about $15,000. The child tax credit they claim will discount this liability by 13%. Where is their contribution to the 4% federal education expenditure?

Breaking it down to a state level is difficult due to varying tax rates and state expenditures, so I'll use Oregon (my home state) as an example. In Oregon anyone with a taxable income above $6,501 will pay 9% of it to the state. So the single parent with a taxable income of $70,000 will pay $6,300 for state income

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