Finding Sense in a Senseless World

A Charlotte Observer editorial entitled "Hoodwinked!" comments that NC Governor Easley has told the the state auditor that some $200 million now being spent to reduce class sizes in lower grades and help at-risk pre-kindergartners will go back to the general fund and be replaced by lottery proceeds. Lottery proceeds that don't even exist yet.

This is counter to what the public was led to believe: That lottery funds would ADD TO, and not REPLACE current spending on schools. The Observer reports that State Auditor Les Merritt states "There is a pretty big disconnect, I do believe, between what is the public perception and what the actual legislation allows about the uses of lottery revenue," he said.

It took years for the state of North Carolina to pass the controversial lottery, amid opposition blaming lotteries for possible gambling addictions and citing the fact that some poorer families will be using grocery money to excessively purchase lottery tickets. If so, poor children will suffer.

But what gets me in this case is that the programs being de-funded are programs for our children, including at-risk programs such as the early intervention program that my son Alec has attended in the public schools for nearly two years. These programs are a source of hope for at-risk kids, and an opportunity for them to become active members of society as they grow. It seems NC is trading the future (our children's future and our future) something else in this deceptive move. Not real classy, Governor Easley.

The entire lottery start-up in NC has been a walk through the dirt. Initial effort to prevent TV commercials teaching kids how much fun it is to gamble have been whittled away leaving the door open to TV lottery ads "blanketing" the state. Was that necessary?

The Charlotte Observer reports that: "Alicia Hansen, a lottery expert at the Tax Foundation, warned that lottery revenue isn't always used as promised: 'Money ostensibly raised for education can be spent on other things -- even in states where there is a `lockbox' protecting lottery revenue. Legislators can shuffle funds and allocate less money to education than they otherwise would, knowing lottery funds will make up the difference.' "

I'm not writing this to oppose lotteries. I'm writing because I think parents need to raise their voices now to protect current and future funding for education. If we don't, we know we can't trust the NC government to protect our kids, based on their actions to date.