Texas Lottery and Education

Alabama is one of seven states that does not have a lottery system. Because of this, Alabama is missing out on millions of dollars per year. In fact, lottery systems generated $65.5 billion dollars in 2012, twenty-five of which goes directly to state funded projects (Isidore). That is an average of over a billion and a half dollars in revenue per state per year. If Alabama did approve a lottery system, the money it generated would go to education and healthcare. Alabama ranks forty-fifth and forty-sixth in these two areas respectively out of fifty states.

The United States has many conflicts, one of them is funding on public education. Despite the fact that funding on public education will not help students succeed academically with the money provided to the schools, every school deserves to get as much money because students will receive more proper education and will be more successful students in the future.

The concept of the lottery is the same throughout every state, people have money and are interested in “playing the odds”; the revenue from these people is then divided and used to benefit organizations of the state’s choice. Exactly where the money goes to is what differs from state to state. Some states put all the revenue from the lottery into one trust fund that is allocated for a more broad and generalized group. Other states target specific programs such as, preserving natural parks or assisting the educational system with additional funds. The State of Alabama does not have a lottery and its locals are the ones missing out. Due to the lack of the lottery in Alabama, those who choose to play the lottery must travel out of the state, which means their money goes to other state’s lotteries benefiting that states programs and ultimately its residents. By keeping the peoples money in the state a lottery will open an endless amount of opportunities to better state supported programs and the state as a whole.

The lottery offers a wonderful opportunity to possibly win millions of dollars. While this might seems amazing, it might not be as wonderful as imagined. In fact, maybe even the opposite might true as stated by numerous studies and research done since the 1970s.

Charter schools in North Carolina do not receive any funding from the lottery, while public schools do. Teachers complain about how they do not get paid enough. Voters go to the polls and vote for referendums that would hopefully be used for education purposes. Student population is growing, so should the money. Jessica Swencki, spokeswoman for Brunswick County Schools, said “It does not go very far. Brunswick County got about $800,000 last year which went to reroof one of the aging middle schools. The average price on one of those middle school roofing projects is around $1.2 million, so it really pays for about three-fourths of a roof, if you really think about the check that Brunswick County Schools actually receives.” Swencki also stated, “…Whenever the misperception is out there that these dollars are flowing into the public school system may or may not be using them to their fullest extent.” Teachers are starting to go on more strikes to protest for better pay. Schools never received half of the lottery money. Based on poverty concentration, North Carolina received a ‘B’, which was much better than the ‘Fs’ the state received during the early 2000s. North Carolina then cut funding for wealthy districts, but continued to fund for the poorer districts. Well, what followed the cut? Teachers went years without seeing a raise in their salaries. The amount of students in a classroom increased. Countless numbers of teacher assistants were cut from

In light of Georgia’s lottery, which is supposed to help minorities to fulfill the American dream, it has been manipulated to help those who don’t need the help. By raising requirements such as increasing the number of honors and AP courses students need to take, altering its purpose of helping minorities in education, furthering my belief that using the lottery is unethical.

The article entails information about the numerous benefits of having a state-run lottery. The first portion gives recent information about the economic climate in the United States. As several states are seeking creative ways to meet financial needs without increasing taxes. It is noted that a state lottery is a form of voluntary taxation that allows the state government to achieve enhancements in education, welfare program, public transportation, etc. Secondly, information about the history of the lottery was explained in great detail as to why the lottery is used as a tool by government and other entities dating back over 500 years. Great examples were given such as President Thomas Jefferson using the lottery as a means to sell his property,

Alabama is out of options for revenue, and it looks like a lottery is their last hope. According to Kim Chandler, “ Bentley said lotteries were outdated…[but] it was the only revenue option left.” Which means that Bentley believes lotteries are old school and outdated, but they are Alabama's last option for revenue. Alabama is in a huge debt and a lottery seems like it could bring in the money Alabama needs. According to Jeff Guo, “ A lottery… [could] bring in over $280 million a year.” Which means that with a lottery, Alabama could be pulled out of debt. It can also bring in more money to provide payment to make our schools, roads, and buildings better. Even though a lottery has its problems it is also the only option Alabama has left. According

I will focus on the reason to keep the lottery. The good of the lottery does not come from the winners, they are just a few who instantly became very wealthy, against the sad losers comprising of everyone else that played. The lottery provides funds for educational programs, scholarships, student loans, and tuition grants. In the state of Georgia, the creation of the lottery has generated over $19 billion dollars since its beginning (WGCL, 2017). The dispersing of the funds collected that go somewhere other than the winner appears to be doing a great amount of good, at the expense of one lottery ticket at a time. Georgia has been able to use the lottery funds to provide a quality education to its residents, and expects to continue the path forward (WGCL,

She starts the essay by claiming that many states use misleading slogans designed to encourage people to buy lottery tickets, but immediately after, five arguments are given that support state-run lotteries. The five arguments that support state-run lotteries are: people choose to participate by choice, funds are used for public services, heavier taxation will occur if lottery income disappears, the lotteries are run honestly by the government, and lotteries create jobs. Jimenez then begins to refute the five

To support her side of the argument and to answer these counterarguments Jimenez share a few statistics. She tells us that the New York Times reported in 2002, that the state-run lotteries brought in a revenue of $20 billion dollars, and that this is only 4% of the states income. She also tells us about one study in a report from the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy that shows people who earned $10,000 a year bought almost three times as many lottery tickets than those who made $50,000 or more a year. This shows us that more poor people buy lotto tickets, so more poor people are paying the taxes that benefit education and social services.

According to the Los Angeles Times article by Joseph Serna “…for Californians, the Golden State does not demand income tax from lottery winnings.” This means that California is a fiscal paradise for lottery winnings; because if residents of the state of California wins the lottery, he/she will be completely exempt from states and local income taxes. This is possible due to the California State Lottery Act in 1984, that stated the exemption of lottery winnings from state income tax. However, if the winners use the winning to buy material items, he/she will have to pay taxes on the items bought. More importantly, the article described that the winner of the lottery will be subject to pay federal income tax. For winners, up to 25% will be withheld

The lottery is a hot topic this week as the amount of earnings climbs to the billion dollar mark. This is the largest winning anyone has ever glanced at, and can change people forever. The struggles of hiding such wealth however, seem much more difficult than marking numbers that may or may not be picked. The chances of winning the lottery are much smaller than getting struck by lightning. Lottery winners seem to get expensive and pricy cars and houses, but the struggle is paying for such investments.

Erb, Kelly P. "Everybody Wins! Lotteries Like Mega Millions Benefit Taxpayers, Seniors, Schools & More." Forbes.com. Forbes, 18 Dec. 2013. Web.

Schools have a number of various sources. The primary sources are federal, state, and local funding. The majority of funding comes from state and local sources; whereas a small percent (usually 9-12%) comes from the federal level. The method by which schools receive funding is through the taxation process. At the state level, taxes are levied from taxpayers, both corporate and citizens via sales and income tax. At the local level, school funding comes from property taxes. Let’s explore the how the various sources of school funding. “According to the National Center for Education Statistics, state and local funding accounts for approximately 93 percent of education expenditures” (Woodruff, 2008, ¶ 2). Let’s examine these various sources of revenue and funding and different formulas for allocation along with their pros and cons.