Stop Predatory Gambling

The facts clearly prove the North Carolina Lottery is a failed public policy

by spgadmin

In yet another expose about how the government program of predatory gambling is a failed public policy, The Winston-Salem Journal (NC) editorial board unmasks the North Carolina Lottery  Here it is:

The looming state budget crisis that threatens to land a staggering blow to public education next year should further expose the hypocrisy of North Carolina’s so-called education lottery.

The N.C. Lottery Commission has revised downward its 2011 budget projection for education by almost 9 percent, or about $39 million. That means lottery proceeds for schools will be about $402 million, instead of the original forecast of $441 million.

That may seem like small potatoes considering the state’s budget for primary and secondary public schools is about $8 billion, or about 40 percent of the state budget. But with the state facing a deficit for 2011 predicted to reach $3.7 billion, every million dollars – indeed every dollar – counts.

The lottery as an ongoing funding mechanism for education, however, is an unreliable source. The state has twice backed away from promises made five years ago to get the lottery bill passed. It changed the law to soften the provision that 35 cents of every lottery dollar go to education. That promise is now a “goal.” NC Policy Watch reported this fall that just 29 cents of each dollar now goes to education.

Second, the precedent has been set to divert lottery funds from the original objectives – early childhood programs, college scholarships and class-size reduction. Some lottery funds went into the General Fund this year to help balance the budget. That’s likely to continue.

That was not supposed to happen, but it’s hard to complain with the state in the midst of such a serious budget crisis. Indeed, if lottery funds are used to prevent teacher layoffs, that is justified in these times. The Department of Public Instruction estimates that a 10 percent cut to the school budget will mean the firing of 5,313 teachers next year. In addition, class sizes would grow significantly, and many new programs, such as dropout prevention, would be lost.

At the intersection of these problems are the 1.5 million students now in traditional and public charter schools who will no doubt feel the effect of fewer teachers, larger classes and fewer programs. Already the state ranks near the bottom in the nation for the amount of money spent per student.

Gov. Bev Perdue has recommended a restructuring of state government to eliminate waste and avoid major cuts to education. In the best scenario, schools would still have to endure some reductions. But the changes could result in a more stable source of future funding for education that does not rely on and is not connected to state-sanctioned gambling.

It’s time to remove “Education” from the name N.C. Education Lottery. It’s just a lottery. The message to our youth would be that there is no future in the false hope of unearned riches.