Vulnerable students lose out to business tax cuts

+ gut bacteria can improve your mood US Edition - Today's top story: Students lose out as cities and states give billions in property tax breaks to businesses − draining school budgets and especially hurting the poorest students [View in browser]( US Edition | 15 February 2024 [The Conversation] [The Conversation]( Top headlines - [Miners can milk public land for gold, free of charge]( - [How many children per parent is environmentally ethical?]( - [Starvation: A consequence of the war in Gaza]( Lead story In a three-month investigation, The Conversation has unraveled the full scope of the [financial damage inflicted on school districts by corporate tax breaks](. Financial records from urban areas around the country show the impact of these exemptions over multiple years. All told, an analysis of 10,370 districts indicates that tax breaks to large businesses drained $2.4 billion from schools in 2019 alone. The investigation shows that the money is diverted in far greater amounts from schools that serve low-income families who are racial minorities. The result is crumbling buildings, shrinking numbers of teachers and staff, unaddressed environmental hazards, and demonstrable lifetime damage to students’ future wages and their ability to find a place in the workforce. Despite all the damage tax breaks inflict, they do little to bring new jobs or new businesses to communities. Indeed, the most frequent beneficiaries are just the corporations, whose decisions on where to locate often do not change because of tax breaks. Yet they succeed in pushing bidding wars between states and localities, which offer more and more exemptions in the hope of influencing corporate strategies. [The project brought together an investigative reporter and three renowned academics]( who specialize in urban economics, school finances and educational outcomes. It reveals how America is failing its most vulnerable children all to add more profits to the bottom line of billion-dollar corporations. Listen to the story of [Kurt Eichenwald’s personal journey on Guy Kawasaki’s Remarkable People podcast](. Kurt Eichenwald Senior Investigative Editor Exxon Mobil Corp.’s campus in East Baton Rouge Parish, left, received millions in tax abatements to the detriment of local schools, right. Barry Lewis/Getty Images, Tjean314/Wikimedia [Students lose out as cities and states give billions in property tax breaks to businesses − draining school budgets and especially hurting the poorest students]( Christine Wen, Texas A&M University; Danielle McLean, The Conversation; Kevin Welner, University of Colorado Boulder; Nathan Jensen, The University of Texas at Austin An estimated 95% of US cities provide economic development tax incentives to woo corporate investors, taking billions away from schools. Economy + Business - [Stock indexes are breaking records and crossing milestones – making many investors feel wealthier]( Alexander Kurov, West Virginia University The S&P 500 topped 5,000 on Feb. 9, 2024, for the first time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average will probably hit a new big round number soon too. Politics + Society - [Why the United States needs NATO – 3 things to know]( Klaus W. Larres, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Donald Trump has threatened to not defend some NATO countries if Russia attacks them. But the US also benefits from the power that NATO gives it, as well as the stability it helped create in Europe. International - [Israeli siege has placed Gazans at risk of starvation − prewar policies made them vulnerable in the first place]( Yara M. Asi, University of Central Florida Arable land has been destroyed, as have food production sites. But even before the current operation in Gaza, Palestinians there suffered high rates of food insecurity. - [Prabowo Subianto is poised to succeed in lifelong quest to become Indonesia’s president. This is why it’s so worrying]( Tim Lindsey, The University of Melbourne As the former general settles into office, a further gradual dismantling of democratic checks and balances, institutions and individual freedoms is very likely. Science + Technology - [Bacteria in your gut can improve your mood − new research in mice tries to zero in on the crucial strains]( Andrea Merchak, University of Florida The organisms living in your gut microbiome can influence your mental and physical health. Researchers have developed a way to better test for those biological effects. Health + Medicine - [Nitazenes are a powerful class of street drugs emerging across the US]( Christopher P. Holstege, University of Virginia An overdose death in Boulder County, Colorado, was linked to a powerful new formulation of a designer drug never approved for use in humans. - [‘It is hijacking my brain’ – a team of experts found ways to help young people addicted to social media to cut the craving]( Annie Margaret, University of Colorado Boulder; Nicholas Hunkins, University of Colorado Boulder You can free yourself from some of the time you spend online in as little as four weeks. Arts + Culture - [For graffiti artists, abandoned skyscrapers in Miami and Los Angeles become a canvas for regular people to be seen and heard]( Colette Gaiter, University of Delaware The colorful bubble letters have attracted praise and condemnation, with taggers seeing their work as a gift to the city, while others decry it as rampant vandalism. Ethics + Religion - [Children are expensive – not just for parents, but the environment − so how many is too many?]( Trevor Hedberg, University of Arizona You can donate to environmental charities and even purchase carbon offsets, but not having an additional child typically has a much greater impact. - [Turkey will stop sending imams to German mosques - here’s why this matters]( Brian Van Wyck, University of Maryland, Baltimore County The Turkish government started sending imams to Germany in the 1980s, but under a new agreement, imams will be trained in Germany instead. Environment + Energy - [Gold, silver and lithium mining on federal land doesn’t bring in any royalties to the US Treasury – because of an 1872 law]( Sam Kalen, University of Wyoming Hard rock minerals like gold, silver, copper and lithium on public lands belong to the American public, but under a 150-year-old law, the US gives them away for free. Podcast 🎙️ - [As we dream, we can listen in on the waking world]( Gemma Ware, The Conversation Dream researcher Başak Türker explains how she was able to communicate with people while they were dreaming. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast. Trending on site - [Why is free time still so elusive?]( - [Can anyone make a citizen’s arrest? The history and legalities of catching criminals yourself]( - [Several companies are testing brain implants – why is there so much attention swirling around Neuralink? Two professors unpack the ethical issues]( Today's graphic 📈 [A line graph showing the United States’ liquefied natural gas exports from 2010 to 2022. From 2016 onward, exports increase significantly.]( From the story, [Biden’s ‘hard look’ at liquefied natural gas exports raises a critical question: How does natural gas fit with US climate goals?]( - - More of The Conversation Like this newsletter? 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