A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE ON LOTTERIES AND GAMBLING

LOTTERY DOES LITTLE FOR SCHOOLS

Report Says N.Y. Lottery Does Little for Schools

A highly critical report released last week argues that, despite a popular perception that New York's state lottery guarantees greater spending on schools, the games do little to increase education funding in the Empire State.

Although the lottery generates more than $1.6 billion a year, it contributes only about 5.3 percent of total spending by local districts, reported State Comptroller H. Carl McCall. His report shows that lottery money replaces, rather than supplements, other revenue used to aid schools. The formula that determines how much state funding schools receive is set without regard to lottery revenues.

An examination of more than 30 years of state school aid and lottery-revenue trends showed that increased ticket sales have not generally coincided with a rise in the percentage of total school funding paid for by the state. Instead, the comptroller said, lottery-revenue growth has been used to close state budget gaps and has even coincided with proposed cuts in school aid. "By dedicating it to education, there is an implied promise that the lottery will increase school aid," the report says. "This has never happened in New York

Copied From: http://www.teachermag.org/ew/vol-17/32caps.h17
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