Letters: Parents pay back into children's education, no need to lose child tax deduction

I would like to thank Steve Glaser for his unselfishness in insisting that "even though I don't have children, I would be willing to pay higher income taxes" for the benefit of our schools ("Tax benefits children," Feb. 20). He wonders why parents accept a child tax deduction when the money would go directly to help their children's school.

I won't argue that all my income taxes do not go to the schools in Utah because he correctly assumes that a good share of it does go to education. I won't argue that the few dollars that I save in deductions for my children I put right back into the schools in extra fees every time they sign up to participate in anything. Most parents give up so much that cable TV seems like a small luxury to replace all the entertainment and trips they could enjoy if they didn't have children.

We have deductions to encourage certain behavior that benefits all of society. Charitable giving is one example of this. In case you don't think that having children benefits our society, I hope you will change your mind when our children are paying taxes for your Social Security and Medicare benefits someday.

Grace Rex

Orem