I found it interesting that the lottery was mentioned as a downfall of the poor population in East St. Louis. A journalist told Kozol that the lottery was targeted to the poor, black population and that it was supposed to add money to the education fund. Yet the money was not going toward education.

I grew up in Florida, which has a state "education" lottery. When it was put into place, it was said that the money made would go toward education, just like in Illinois. However, there has been no noticeable difference in Florida's schools. In fact, Florida was facing a budget crisis last year similar to what we went through. Where did the money go? The same arguments for a lottery have been made in other states such as Virginia, and more recently, South Carolina and Tennessee. We also hear the same arguments here in North Carolina. The only time I have heard of lottery money actually going toward education was when my sister in Tennessee received a college scholarship the other day. It was paid with lottery revenue, but it went to students with certain test scores on the ACT. While this is a great help to her in paying for college, how did the lottery help struggling students in the lower grades who would maybe be headed to college if they'd received help years ago?

Lotteries are not helping education! They are causing poor people to put money they don't have into a dream that has a miniscule chance of coming true! We need to keep this in mind when North Carolina considers starting a lottery.

I agree totally with you Heather. I grew up in WV, where we had a lottery and since then have some legalized other gambling. The schools some places are nice (but very few are new), and there are more state college scholarships. But I don't think enough of the money is going to where it needs to go. Even in Parkersburg, a city the size of Hickory, there are two or three schools that no one wants to attend. I worked at a grocery store for a short time, and it was very sad to see who played the lottery. Mothers on WIC, people using food stamps, and many people came in to buy cigarettes, beer, and lottery tickets. I don't think it is the answer in NC, unless somehow miraclously, they said schools would get ALL the money from sales. Then I am still unsure about the way of using a dream of the poor to raise that money.

Heather and Shelly,
This is the same thing I was discussing this weekend at a baby shower full of old college friends; most of which are teachers. One of the ladies teaches in South Carolina and she opened our eyes to the "Education Lottery". I knew that there were pros and cons to the issue but I was under the impression that any help we could get in such a budget crunch would be helpful. Christen let us know quickly that if a lottery were to be put in place we would most likely be disappointed. She informed us that the South Carolina lottery gives little money to the areas that elementary teachers would consider as important such as supplies, National Boards, reduced class size etc. She let us know quickly that the majority of the money is being used for administrators' salaries and higher education (scholarships for students who would probably have attended college anyway).
I was disheartned by the news. I couldn't belive that the stat of South Carolina is getting ready to cut out all funding for teachers to work on their National Boards. I would think this would be a priority. It made me thankful that I do live in North Carolina and while we may have problems with our budget, I can start my National Boards and know that it will be paid for.
I think we need to start focusing on the quality of our educational system.

Heather,

Coming from VA, I can honestly say that I see no huge differences in their education system. In fact, my niece that teaches there still waits on complete sets of textbooks for her class. She will be the first one to tell you that the lottery doesn't help the schools that much.

I think that no matter what goes on within the state, the public school budget will always be stressed. Somehow, our legislators think that we are magicians and can keep up with everything expected of us without accomodating our needs within the budget.

I'm afraid that things are just going to get worse. THe inner city schools and the rural schools are already feeling the effects of a poor state budget. I know it is a pessimistic outlook!

Hi Ladies!

Again, I agree. I grew up in Florida and the money acquired from the lottery was used to fund higher education institutions, administrators, and county personnel. Very little of the money was used to purchase items needed in the elementary schools. My sister-in-law works in one of the lowest economic areas in Florida and her county has yet to receive ANY money from the state's lottery. Teachers are not asked what is needed in the classrooms nor has smaller classroom size been a consideration. I have a friend who lives in South Carolina and the lottery that was suppose to benefit all levels of academia is under much scrutiny. Again, who does the lottery actually benefit. From what I have heard and read about a lottery, it seems areas that are not in need are receiving the most.

Renee