xzvf

I lowballed the taxes, but it doesn't change the math significantly. The middle (actually the 40% to 90% range) pay the majority of taxes in the country. That's fair because the majority of income is in that range. The fact it is probably closer to 30% of income for most americans just emphasises my point.

I believe that universial education is an important factor in national development, and worth funding by the government. Not a blank check and requiring a focused cost structure that is affordable.

Education is a life long process, but education beyond K12 with high standards, is critical for most professions that pay well. The goal is to rework education so it fits within the median budget of the middle class (the rich can afford anything, and the intelligent poor have many funding options).

That means a family with an income of $60-80K a year should be able to send their kids (two roughly on adverage) to school with a combination of part time work by the student and savings by the parent.

That includes the ability for that family to purchase a house and save for retirement (pensions are dead outside the public sector, and that bill is coming due too). Assuming taxes of 20% (Federal and state), 15% for retirement savings, house payment of $2K a month, that leaves $22K a year for all other expenses (health insurance, car, etc).

A 20 hour part time job at $10 an hour, brings in roughly $750 dollars a month, or $9K a year. Assuming a $30K a year total cost of attendence, the parents will have to contribute $84K to educate their children. Start saving at birth.

Think how hard it would be to do all that for the next generation if you have to pay student loans too. Plus, college cost grow faster than inflation, so expect to pay double in 20 years.