Radio Commentary
When state funds gets tight,
people often ask what happened to lottery money for schools? Originally billed
as the salvation for education, the lottery has become what columnist Dan
Walters dubbed “the big lie.”
It is a “smoke and mirrors” illusion that vast sums are
going to schools when in fact state funding to schools dropped by the same
amount the lottery raised, and no one claims this was a coincidence.
The funds seem
vast, but it’s important to remember that by law, half the money goes to
prizes, 9.5 percent goes to administration, and 6.5 percent goes to retailers
as commissions.
About 1/3 goes
to schools. But that 1/3 of the “pot” must be divided by the more than six
million students in the state.
How much money
do schools get? During the lottery’s peak many years ago, it gave schools $179
per student, or about 3 percent of their budgets. That fell to $77 a few years
later. On average, it’s about $100 per student.
A study of the lottery confirms our worst fears: Lottery
money is shrinking, state money is not making up the difference, and basic
education programming is being starved.
What’s more,
I’ve always opposed the lottery as a funding source for education because it
encourages gambling while we try to teach values to youngsters.
I believe it is fundamentally wrong to encourage people
to gamble to support schools. The lottery is risky business and the money
raised provides very little reliable support for educational programs. In my
view, it’s a bad deal all around.
